Easy Vegetarian Red Bean Lasagna

As usual, I found this recipe and modified it a bit. I will list it as I found it and explain my changes below.


Ingredients

* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 small onion, chopped
* 1 clove garlic, minced
* 1 (15 ounce) can red beans, drained
* 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
* 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
* 1 teaspoon dried basil
* 1 teaspoon dried oregano
* salt and pepper to taste
* 3 tablespoons butter
* 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups cold milk
* 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
* 4 no-boil lasagna noodles
* 4 ounces shredded Gruyere cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion until tender. Mix in garlic, and cook until heated through. Mix in red beans, tomatoes, and red bell pepper. Season with basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, and gradually mix in flour until smooth. Slowly stir in the milk. Mix in Parmesan cheese, and continue to cook and stir until slightly thickened.
4. Spread 1/2 the red bean mixture in a 9x9 inch casserole dish, and top with 2 lasagna noodles. Layer with remaining bean mixture and remaining noodles. Cover with the sauce, and top with Gruyere cheese.
5. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until lightly browned.

Result:
Everyone LOVED this! I was worried that it wouldn't be very flavorful or that it wouldn't be cheesy enough...but it was excellent!!

Ok, here are the changes I made. I didn't have red beans so I used a can or Ranchero Beans. I didn't rinse them, just poured off the excess liquid and dumped them in the pan. Same thing with tomatoes. I LOVE Fire Roasted Tomatoes with Garlic; I use them in everything. I just poured off the excess liquid and dumped them in the pan. I used green pepper...it's all I had. Used 3 cloves of fresh garlic (we love garlic). I used regular ole lasagna noodles (didn't know no-boil noodles even existed). I didn't have any Gruyere cheese so I just used Mozzarella :) What will I do differently next time? I'll add a 2nd can of beans :) Delish!