The Laird and His Lady Veggie Lasagna

Last night our sweet newlywed friends,Eileen and William came over for the evening and it was so fun! William is from England, near Cotswold and Eileen met him in Scotland while both were working with YWAM (Youth With A Mission). We have known and loved Eileen for many years as she has been friends with our daughter, Jessi, through high school, college and after. She spent many days and nights in our home and we love her like a daughter.

They are here on "holiday" after being married at the end of March in England.They are spending time with her family stateside for a bit.

These are the gorgeous roses they brought to us!

I asked what type of food they enjoyed and Eileen said they both were getting more into vegetarian.

So I, of course turned to my son-in-law, Matt, who is a vegetarian, and our daughter, Erin, for new ideas on some vegetarian recipes.

Erin had just made a new one the night before last and it sounded wonderful so I went with it.

She gave me a very loose recipe and the ingredients she chose and then I came up with some additions and VOILA:

Vegetarian Polenta Eggplant Lasagna

Preheat oven to 375*

1 or 2 rolls of Trader Joe's Organic Polenta

1 jar of Organic Basil Marinara Sauce

Approx 1/2 jar of TJ's Pesto Sauce

1 bag of frozen fire roasted peppers and onions (thawed ahead of time a bit)

1-2 cloves fresh garlic finely chopped

3-4 baby bella mushrooms sliced

1 small or 1/2 large eggplant med sliced

2 cups finely shredded mozzarella cheese

Slice one package of the polenta 1/2 in. thick.

Layer as much as will fit into the bottom of a class baking dish. I used a 9 x 12" dish.

Layer 1/2 of the marinara sauce on top of the polenta.

Mix the chopped garlic with the thawed veggies and layer that over the sauce.

Layer 1/2 the shredded cheese.

Layer the mushrooms.

Drop pesto sauce by little spoonfuls on and around mushrooms.

Layer the sliced eggplant.

Top with one more layer of polenta slices 
Cover with the remainder of the marinara sauce.

Bake at 375 for 25 minutes

Top with remaining shredded cheese and bake an additional 15 minutes.

Let stand a bit to give the juices time to settle and be somewhat absorbed.Can be a little liquidy because of the frozen veggies, but the longer it sets the less liquid there is.

There's really no wrong way to make this or layer it or what you choose to put in it and it was so yummy...and today we get to be excited about leftovers for dinner!!!!

So, I've dubbed my version of my sweet, pregnant daughter's recipe "The Laird and His Lady Lasagna" in honor of our friends William and Eileen.