Sweet Potato Lasagna from The Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook

As I blogged about recently here, I am getting re-acquainted with cooking with a Slow Cooker and this time, lovin’ it!

As a vegetarian for over 20 years, I was until recently still under the misconception that Slow Cookers were mainly for cooking large slabs of meat, chicken…and not for many kinds of vegetable and vegetarian recipes. How wrong I was!

And how far the slow-cooker has come since my first try at using this wonderful small appliance, many years ago. I was just married (for the first time) ;)and we had received a CrockPot (the first popular brand name of slow-cookers) as a wedding gift. At the time, I was still eating beef, pork, poultry… and sharing life with a husband who insisted on lots of meat and potato suppers!

How times change…and in this case for the better. 🙂

I also recently found out about a wonderful cookbook: The Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Judith Finlayson, which I will be reviewing soon and in detail over at My Real Life Reviews.

Suffice to say for now, this cookbook is a winner and a wonderful way to introduce yourself to slow-cooking or to add to your recipe repertoire if you are already ♥ your slow cooker!

I’m sharing one of my fav recipes: Sweet Potato Lasagna from this cookbook on page 2 of this post.

It is simply delicious and so easy to make!

As with most recipes, I did a bit of personal “tweaking”:

-I used 9 oven-ready lasagna noodles instead of the 12 suggested and found it to be just right for the 6 quart slow cooker that I use.

-I added 2 T. instead of 1 T. of the Italian seasoning blend (and that I mixed myself: basil, oregano,thyme and I added a dash of nutmeg too).

– I used grated Asiago cheese not Parmesan as I had some on hand.

**All minor changes and not required. Just my own preferences.

This lasagna is very filling and looks great too, it’s so colorful. Would make a wonderful Fall dinner choice, with sweet potatoes at their peak right now and so reasonably priced too. Try to buy organic if at all possible, so much tastier I think and better healthwise too.

I guarantee, you’ll be making this one more than once!

See complete recipe on page 2. Enjoy. 🙂

Sweet Potato Lasagna

Serves 6 to 8

Entertaining Worthy

Tip: I’ve used brown rice noodles in this pasta because they are a gluten-free alternative. If you prefer, substitute whole wheat lasagna noodles, which are higher in fiber, or oven-ready noodles for convenience. If using oven-ready noodles, skip Step 1.

To Make Ahead: Complete Steps 1 and 2. Cover and refrigerate overnight. The next morning, complete the recipe.

This delicious lasagna is very easy to make. I like to serve it with steamed spinach sprinkled with toasted sesame seeds or a tossed green salad topped with sliced avocado.

• Large (minimum 5 quart) oval slow cooker

• Greased slow cooker stoneware

12 brown rice lasagna noodles (see Tip above)

1 tbsp olive oil 15 mL

4 cups tomato sauce 1 L

2 cups ricotta cheese 500 mL

3 medium sweet potatoes (about 2 lbs/1 kg) peeled and thinly sliced

1 tbsp dried Italian seasoning 15 mL

2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 500 mL

1⁄4 cup freshly grated Parmesan 50 mL

1. Cook lasagna noodles in a pot of boiling salted water, until slightly undercooked, or according to package instructions, undercooking by 2 minutes. Drain, toss with oil and set aside.

2. Spread 1 cup (250 mL) of the tomato sauce over bottom of prepared slow cooker stoneware. Cover with 3 noodles. Spread with one-third each of the ricotta, sweet potatoes and dried Italian seasoning and one-quarter of the tomato sauce and mozzarella. Repeat twice. Cover with final layer of noodles. Pour remaining sauce over top. Sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.

3. Cover and cook on Low for 6 hours or on High for 3 hours, until sweet potatoes are tender and mixture is hot and bubbly.