Featured Recipe – Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

Lisa Corrado, a long-time resident of New Canaan, is the owner of Lisa Corrado Nutrition and author of a Moment in a Busy Life blog. This week, she shares a veggie-packed lasagna sure to be a crowd pleaser. No need for a side salad with this lasagna! It freezes beautifully and there’s no need to cook your lasagna noodles first, just make sure they’re covered in sauce. Note: Lisa give you the option to keep it vegetarian or the Flex-Able options to add one pound of very lean ground meat, cooked.
Serves 8
Flex·Able option: 1 pound very lean ground meat, cooked

  • 2 pounds eggplant, cut into chunks
  • 3 medium zucchini, cut into chunks
  • 2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and quartered
  • 1 medium yellow onion, cut into chunks
  • 1 head of garlic
  • 1 (28 ounce) can chunky tomato sauce
  • 1 (4 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 ½  cups part-skim ricotta
  • 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
  • 2 egg whites
  • salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles (no need to cook)
  • 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400º
Scatter eggplant, zucchini, peppers and onion on cookie sheets; spray with olive oil and lightly season with salt & pepper.  Cut off the top of the garlic bulb, lightly spray with olive oil, and wrap in foil.  Roast the vegetables until tender and browned, about 30 – 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Roast garlic until softened, about 45 minutes.  Let vegetables cool slightly.
Pour both tomato sauces into a food processor.  Squeeze the garlic cloves in as well, plus the roasted vegetables.  Process for about 15 – 20 seconds, until smoother, but still with some definition.
In a bowl, combine the ricotta, Parmesan cheese, basil, egg whites and ground pepper.
Spread a thin layer of the vegetable mixture in the bottom of a 13” x 9” baking dish, top with 3 lasagna noodles.  Top with half of the cheese mixture, half the cooked meat (if using) then about 1 cup of the vegetable mixture. Top with 3 more lasagna noodles.  Top with remaining cheese mixture, remaining cooked meat, then about 1 cup vegetable mixture, then remaining 3 noodles.  Top with remaining vegetable mixture and sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cover tightly with foil and bake until bubbly and a knife inserted indicates that the noodles are tender, about 1 hour.  Remove foil and brown cheese under broiler for 30 – 60 seconds.

Simple Fall Appetizer – Feta-Fig Tartlets


Busy New Canaan mom, Eila Johnson, writes the full plate blog. The site, which was named to Forbes’ 2012 Top 100 Sites for Women, teaches busy parents how to make simple, nourishing recipes for their families and friends. Here she shares her go-to appetizer recipe for Fall entertaining with Walter Stewart’s shoppers:

Feta-Fig Tartlets

It’s 2:45 pm, the school bus is just about to rumble home with your kids, you have an afternoon of activities to drive to and from… and you offered to bring an appetizer to tonight’s {pick one: book club/preschool mom’s night out/YWL meeting/dinner party}. Your first thought? “Maybe I’ll just bring wine instead?!” Before you resort to pigs-in-a-blanket or throw the towel in completely, bookmark this super simple Fall appetizer. It’s my go-to. And, if we both bring it to the gathering…? That’s ok! Everyone loves this appetizer!
As an added bonus, I’ve listed where you can find each ingredient at our local Walter Stewart’s Market, so no excuses for you not to bring along these little bits of Fall fabulousness!


Feta Fig Tartlets
(makes 30 appetizers)

  • 2 pkgs Athenos Mini Phyllo Cups (freezer case)
  • 8 oz. brick of organic cream cheese (dairy section)
  • 4 oz. tub crumbled Feta cheese (cheese case)
  • Dried figs (found in a tub in the produce section), sliced
  • Fresh rosemary (optional, produce section)

Preheat your oven to 350.
Leave the cream cheese on the counter for a few minutes to soften a bit.
Pop the phyllo shells out of the plastic tray and onto a rimmed cookie sheet and put them in the oven for 3 minutes, just so they crisp up.
While the cream cheese is softening, feel free to feed or bathe your kids, or go do bedtime stories . . .
Then, in a small bowl, blend the cream cheese and Feta. (I use a hand mixer to make it easy.)
Fill each phyllo cup with a dollop of the cheese mixture, a slice of dried fig, and a sprig of rosemary.
Voila! Done. So easy, and you will be the hit of your next gathering.
You can see what Eila made with the leftover cheese mixture here.
[Photo credit: Eila Johnson]