We had leftover noodles from something else, half a head of broccoli that was starting to sulk in the crisper drawer, a sad zucchini, and a summer squash that had survived its expiration date by sheer willpower. I had zero desire to go to the store. You ever have those days? Where your only goal is don’t waste the food?
So I started chopping.
Somewhere between sautéing the onions and whisking a makeshift white sauce (because I had no red sauce, naturally), it started to smell really good. And by the time it came out of the oven, all bubbly and golden, I knew I had accidentally made something I’d want to write down.
This isn’t a fast meal. It’s not low-carb. It’s not trendy. But it’s warm, hearty, a little messy — and it tastes like someone cooked for you on purpose.
Okay, let’s talk ingredients
I’m not measuring out love here, but here’s what I used:
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9 lasagna noodles, cooked. Not crunchy. Please cook your noodles.
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1 ½ cups cottage cheese. Don’t give me that face — it works.
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2 cups shredded mozzarella. Use more if you want. I won’t stop you.
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½ cup grated parmesan. The good kind if you’ve got it.
For the vegetables:
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Olive oil (a tablespoon-ish)
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1 onion, chopped
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4 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
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2 carrots, chopped small
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1 summer squash and 1 zucchini, sliced thin
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1 big ol’ head of broccoli, chopped small so it actually cooks
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Salt and pepper. Just taste as you go.
For the sauce:
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¼ cup butter
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⅔ cup flour (yes, it’s a lot — it thickens everything)
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4 cups milk
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½ cup grated parmesan
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Salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and — if you’re spicy — red pepper flakes
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What I Did (not always in this exact order)
Preheated the oven to 375°F. Greased a baking dish. 9×13, the usual.
Then I started with the veggies. Heated olive oil in a Dutch oven. Tossed in the onion, gave it a head start. Then garlic, just until it started to smell like “oh wow, something’s cooking.” Carrots went in next — they take longer. Zucchini, squash, and broccoli came in last. Just cooked everything until it didn’t look raw anymore.
Set that aside and moved on to the sauce.
Melted the butter, stirred in the flour, whisked like I meant it. Slowly added milk — didn’t stop whisking. It thickened, bubbled, looked like sauce. Stirred in parmesan, seasoning, and some red pepper flakes because I was feeling wild.
Cheese mix was just cottage cheese and shredded mozzarella in a bowl. Stirred together with a spoon. That’s it.
Assembly (a little messy, but here’s how it went)
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Sauce on the bottom. Thin layer.
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3 noodles.
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Half the veggie mix.
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Half the cottage cheese mixture.
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Some sauce.
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Repeat all that again — noodles, veggies, cheese mix, sauce.
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Top with 3 more noodles, the rest of the sauce, and the remaining mozzarella and parmesan.
Covered the whole thing with foil (tight!) and baked it for 25 minutes. Then I pulled off the foil and let it keep going for another 20 or so — until the top was golden and bubbly.
Took it out. Let it sit. (Very important.) You can slice it right away, but then it looks like lasagna soup. Ten minutes of patience goes a long way.
A Few Truths About This Dish
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It tastes better the next day. I don’t know why. Leftovers are elite.
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You can swap in whatever veggies you’ve got. Seriously. This is survival lasagna.
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Cottage cheese > ricotta. I said what I said.
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It’s messy to assemble, but honestly? Feels kinda therapeutic.
That’s it.
If you made it this far, bless you. I know this isn’t some chef-y masterpiece, but it’s good. It fills the house with real smells. It feeds the people you love (or just you for four days straight — also love).
Anyway, I wrote this down because I figured someone else probably had too many vegetables and not enough motivation. This is for you.
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