Roasted Red Pepper Lasagna

• 4 medium red sweet peppers
• 1T olive oil
• 1 28- ounce can crushed tomatoes, un-drained
• 1/2 cup snipped fresh basil
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 t salt
• 3/4 t ground black pepper
• 8 ounces sweet or hot bulk Italian sausage, browned and drained (optional)
• 1/3 c Butter or margarine
• 1/3 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 t ground nutmeg
• 8 c milk
• 12 no-boil dried lasagna noodles
• 1 1/4 c finely shredded Parmesan cheese (5 ounces)

 

1. Preheat oven to 425. For red pepper sauce, cut fresh peppers in half; remove stems, seeds, and membranes. Place peppers, cut sides down, on a foil-lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until skins is bubbly and browned. Wrap peppers in foil; let stand for 20-30 minutes or until cool enough to handle. Peel skins from peppers. Cut peppers into thin strips. (Or, if using bottled roasted red peppers, drain and cut into thin strips.)

2. In a large saucepan, cook sweet peppers on medium heat for 1 minute. Stir in undrained tomatoes, the basil, garlic, 1/2 t of the salt, and the black pepper. Bring to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 20 minutes, stirring often. Set aside to cool. If desired, stir in cooked sausage.

3. For the bechamel sauce, in a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in the remaining 1/2 t salt, the flour, and nutmeg until smooth. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Set aside to cool.

4. Preheat oven to 350 F. To assemble, grease the bottom of a 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with three of the uncooked lasagna noodles. Spread about 1 cup of the red pepper sauce over the pasta. Top with 3/4 cup of the bechamel sauce, spreading evenly; sprinkle with 1/4 c of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat layering pasta, red pepper sauce, bechamel sauce, and Parmesan three more times. Be sure the top layer of noodles is completely covered with sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining 1/4 c Parmesan cheese.

 

5. Bake, uncovered, for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly and light brown on top. Let stand for 20 minutes before serving.