Vegetarian Lasagna

2 Tblsp olive or vegetable cooking oil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup diced onion
2-3 full sized carrots, diced (I buy organic and leave the peeling on, and just scrub real good before dicing.)
32 oz of your favorite vegetarian spaghetti sauce
1 package lasagna noodles (use 9 - 12 noodles)
4 cups (2 lb) ricotta cheese
2 cups (8 oz.) shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 eggs
1/4 cup chopped dried parsley
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper

Start heating the water for the lasagna noodles over medium high heat.

Prepare and dice the vegetables.

Once the water has come to a full boil, add the lasagna noodles and cook according to package directions, and stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, while the noodles are cooking, saute the onion, carrot, and garlic powder in the olive oil, over medium high heat in a large saucepan. Once the onion has become translucent and carrots start to become tender, reduce heat to medium and add the spaghetti sauce. Heat through.

In a large bowl, mix the cheeses, eggs, parsley, salt, and pepper together.

When the pasta is done cooking, remove from heat. You can drain it if you like. I normally just remove the pot from the heat and get each noodle out as needed with cooking grippers.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.

In a 13 x 9 x 2 inch glass baking dish, spread about 1/2 cup of the sauce mixture. Arrange 3 - 4 pasta noodles (depending on how they fit) lengthwise over the sauce, edges touching or overlapping a bit. Spread 1/3 of cheese mixture over the pasta, and then 1/3 of remaining sauce over the cheese. Repeat the layers of pasta, cheese, and sauce mixture two more times, ending with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese over this if desired. Cover with foil and bake 30 minutes until hot and bubbling. Remove foil and bake for about 10 minutes longer. Serves best if you let it stand for about 10 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy. We find that the carrots go quite well with the tomato based sauce; they have a sweetness of their own.

Leftover vegetarian lasagna is great too, as the flavors have more of a chance to blend together.