Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

My friend SA made this for our church Progressive Dinner Saturday night. I was dreading it because I don’t like red peppers but my mom always taught me to be polite when you eat at someone else’s house so I tried it. I DO like red peppers, I DO i DO – Sam I Am!!! It was so good in fact I could have eaten it for breakfast the next morning. Here is her recipe…

Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

This is a recipe I’ve been using for almost 10 years. I’ve made several adjustments in that time frame and now I think I have it pretty well the way I want it. I used to roast the peppers myself, but the recipe tastes just as good with the canned ones, and they’re only $1 a jar at Dollar Tree (cheaper than fresh ones). You can substitute Ricotta for the cream cheese in the filling, it just depends on your taste buds! Enjoy!

1 1/2 jars (18 oz total) roasted red peppers, julienned, then cut into 1/2″ pieces
8 lasagna noodles
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 T. olive oil or canola oil
1 can (28 oz) crushed or pureed tomatoes
2 T. parsley
1 t. sugar
1 t. basil
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 c. butter
1/3 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. ground nutmeg (or to taste–if you use freshly grated, use less–it’s strong!)
2 1/2 c. milk or half & half or heavy cream (however rich you want it to be)
1 8 oz package cream cheese, softened
1 c. Parmesan cheese
1 12 oz package Mozzarella cheese

Cook lasagna noodles according to directions. In a skillet, cook red peppers and garlic in oil for about 3 minutes (till the house is nice and smelly), then add the tomatoes, parsley, sugar, basil and pepper. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes. In a saucepan, melt butter. Whisk in flour, salt and nutmeg until smooth. Gradually add milk/half & half/heavy cream. Bring to a boil, cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese, stir until all cheese is mostly melted.

Spread 1 cup pepper sauce in a 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan, coated with nonstick cooking spray. Top with 4 noodles, half of the white sauce, half of the pepper sauce, and 1 1/2 c. Mozzarella. Repeat layers, sprinkling all remaining Mozzarella on top.

Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.