Slow Cooker Vegetarian Lasagna With Weight Watcher's Points

From Eating Well (November/December 2011) Sure, the slow cooker’s great for stews and soups, but it also happens to make a mean lasagna! In this ingenious slow-cooker recipe, all you have to do is chop your veggies, then layer the ingredients (raw) into the crockpot. Serve with: Garlic bread and a green salad. This recipe is courtesy of Eating Well, and contains 11 Weight Watcher’s points as written. You can decrease the points to 8 per serving by substituting fat-free ricotta and mozzarella cheese. This recipe can be modified by adding different vegetables or a precooked protein.

• Ready In: 2 hrs 30 mins
• Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 1  large egg
•  part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1 (5 ounce) package  Baby Spinach, coarsely chopped
• 3 -4  portabella mushrooms, gills removed halved and thinly sliced
• 1  small zucchini, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  pinch crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
• 15  whole wheat lasagna noodles, uncooked (about 12 ounces)
• 3  cups part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded divided

Directions

1. Combine egg, ricotta, spinach, mushrooms and zucchini in a large bowl.
2. Combine crushed and diced tomatoes and their juice, garlic and crushed red pepper (if using) in a medium bowl.
3. Generously coat a 6-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray. Spread 1 1/2 cups of the tomato mixture in the slow cooker. Arrange 5 noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly and breaking into pieces to cover as much of the sauce as possible. Spread half of the ricotta-vegetable mixture over the noodles and firmly pat down, then spoon on 1 1/2 cups sauce and sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella. Repeat the layering one more time, starting with noodles. Top with a third layer of noodles. Evenly spread the remaining tomato sauce over the noodles. Set aside the remaining 1 cup mozzarella in the refrigerator.
4. Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook on High for 2 hours or on Low for 4 hours. Turn off the slow cooker, sprinkle the reserved mozzarella on the lasagna, cover and let stand for 10 minutes to melt the cheese.