Salsa Verde Vegetable Lasagna / Pasta Bake

Under pressure from my daughter I bought tomatillos for salsa verde sauce. A couple of days later I realized I was not going to have time to make enchiladas. But I did not want the tomatillos to go to waste so I made the salsa verde sauce, put it in the refrigerator and bought myself another day. The next day I had to use it up. I happened to have colored bell peppers and zucchini in the refrigerator. I also had some left over paneer.  So I whipped up this lasagna with the ingredients I had.

The taste was great. All the vegetables made it filling too. The paneer added the protein and the salsa added the taste. Next time I make it I will make a thicker salsa. There was some liquid left over on the bottom. I like all the liquid to be completely absorbed. An alternative to this recipe would be using penne or a fusilli pasta instead of the lasagna.



My daughter was not happy when she saw me use up her favorite salsa for something other than enchiladas. But once she tasted the dish she was fine.

You will need
6-7 lasagna sheets or 1 cup dry pasta (penne or fusilli)
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 tsp red chilli pepper powder
1/2 tsp. black pepper
4 oz. paneer, cubed
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow red pepper, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced in rounds
2 carrots, sliced in rounds
1 serving salsa verde sauce
1/4 cup cotijo or mozzarella cheese, shredded
salt to taste

In a bowl mix the yogurt, red chili pepper powder, black pepper and salt. Add the cubed paneer and keep aside for 15 minutes or a few hours. I kept this overnight because I had prepped the paneer for another dish.

Dice and slice the vegetables.

Put it all together. Preheat the oven to 375 F. In a oven proof casserole dish start building the layers. Heat some water and place it in a wide pan. Take it off heat. Place the lasagna noodle in the pan until it is just soft. Do not cook it. You just want it to be flexible so that it does not break. Ladle a little salsa on the bottom of the casserole dish. Place a few sheets of lasagna to cover the bottom. Add half the sliced vegetables.

Over the vegetables add the marinated paneer pieces. If desired you can add a layer of cheese. I added cheese only to the top. Pour half the remaining salsa over the paneer.

Place a layer of the softened lasagna sheets over the salsa.

Then repeat all the layers, the vegetables, the paneer and the remaining salsa. Shred the cheese over the top.

Cover with foil and bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Then uncover and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown,

Enjoy!