Spaghetti Asparagus Lasagne

kittycatmom's Note:

Asparagus is one of my favorite "Spring Veggies." This is a light, and delicious recipe I originally found on cooking.com and really like.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 cup finely chopped onion
• ¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil leaf
• 4 medium tomatoes , peeled and roughly chopped, plus 2 thinly sliced
• ½ cup water
• 2 lbs asparagus , trimmed and blanched
• 12 ounces spaghetti , precooked and drained
• 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
• ½ cup ricotta cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter a lasagne dish.
2. In a medium sauté pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil until hot. Add the garlic and onions and sauté until the onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the basil, chopped tomatoes, and water and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, remove from the heat, and set aside.
4. Arrange half of the asparagus in an even layer over the bottom of the prepared lasagne dish. Top with a layer of half of the sliced tomatoes, then a layer of half of the spaghetti and a layer of half the garlic/onion/tomato sauce. Evenly sprinkle half of the mozzarella over the tomato sauce and dot with half of the ricotta. Repeat layering, using all of the remaining ingredients.
5. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes, or until the top of the lasagne is golden brown.

Reviews

[crabpatty]

I made this for friends who enjoy being experimented on, (or so they tell me) and are great sports about not minding my using their taste buds as testing grounds. I subbed diced, canned tomatoes for the fresh, as I did not like what I saw at the grocery store. It smelled fantastic as it was cooking and in fact it was. I had a hard time cutting through the asparagus to make neat squares and next time I make it, I will cut them in smaller (maybe 2 inch) pieces. I used linguine, because I had it on the shelf. The dish was absolutely delicious. We had a spinach salad with mandarin oranges and almonds and a tangy dressing, because the recipe had enough tomatoes in itself. Fresh hot bread and it was a delightful meal. My children, ages 22 & 27 would not touch it with a 10 foot pole, but thank goodness for willing friends! We enjoyed it thoroughly. We topped the dinner off with a Paula Deen recipe, made by Elaine, for fresh Blackberry Pie, which was out of this world, unbelievably good! I very much enjoyed the recipe and definitely, will make it again.

[Andi of Longmeadow Farm]

I just sat down for a second, after the Easter fun was over, and wanted to review this right away. A marvelous, marvelous taste sensation, that warms the soul as well as your insides. I made this distinctly two different ways, one vegan and one following the recipe as written. Both were wonderful and the taste was sensational. The only vegan changes I made were, (used a vegan-type-ricotta), no mozzarella, but subbed breads crumbs and french-fried onions to the top of the vegan lasagna. The other one was made as written, so no changes made here, and let's just say....I have none of either casserole left. The asparagus was fresh and delicious and went remarkably well with all the other ingredients. For the vegan lasagna, I might up the garlic next time, but it was delicious as written.