Shopping at my local farmers’ market is one of my favorite weekend activities. Midsummer vegetables are at their peak, and the mountains of gorgeous summer produce engulf my field of view — and also skew my better judgment. Invariably, I end up carting home way more veggies than I counted on buying, and the week is spent trying to use up a glut of fresh produce before next Sunday arrives and it’s time to do it all over again.

Granted, there are worse problems to have. And so, I gamely looked in my produce drawer this morning to re-discover a bag full of peppers, both sweet and hot varieties, as well as four cute little eggplants, and four fat portobello mushrooms.

First, I de-veined, de-seeded, and diced all the peppers. At this point, I was still waiting for inspiration to strike. Then, I figured you can’t go wrong starting a recipe with garlic and onions, so I diced up some of those . . . and finally, I had an idea worth running with! I would make a summer vegetable lasagna, using up all those veggies in a tomato sauce, layering it with whole wheat noodles and pesto-y spinach.

So, there you go. A vegetarian lasagna, light on dairy but packed with flavor. In addition to all those fresh vegetables, I used a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes,  a bag of frozen spinach, and a batch of pesto I’d made a few weeks ago, frozen into dollops for quick defrosting. If you choose to make your pesto without cheese, this recipe could easily go vegan.

This recipe makes a nice big lasagna, perfect for a summer dinner party. It also freezes beautifully in individual portions, which I will surely take advantage of — soon, the school year will start, and I will be happy to have some homemade lasagna to pack for lunch.

Oh, and one more thing. Instead of boiling my lasagna noodles, I place them in a baking dish, cover them with boiling water, and let them soak for half an hour. This way, they don’t stick to each other when you’re trying to assemble your lasagna, and the texture is not compromised at all. You could use no-boil noodles instead, but I like the substance and chew of whole wheat lasagna, and soaking the noodles hardly takes any work at all.

Summer Vegetable Lasagna

1 lb. box whole wheat lasagna noodles
1 batch Summer Vegetable Sauce (recipe below)
1 batch Pesto Alla Genovese (recipe below)
1 lb. bag frozen spinach
1/4 C. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the lasagna noodles in a 9″x13″ baking dish. Cover with boiling water and let soak for 30 minutes.

2. Defrost the frozen spinach according to the package directions.  Drain of any excess water and mix with pesto.

3. Preheat oven to 375F.

4. Set the cooked noodles aside, dry your baking dish, and ladle a cup of the Summer Vegetable Sauce evenly over the bottom of the dish.

5.. Place a layer of lasagna noodles on top of the sauce. You may have to cut them to fit.

6. Spread a layer of pesto spinach over the noodles, then add another layer of noodles. Now, ladle on a few cups of the sauce. Add another layer of noodles. Repeat until the pan is full and all noodles are used.

7. Top lasagna with grated Parmesan cheese. Bake for 45 minutes, until browned on top. Cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Summer Vegetable Sauce

2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 large red onion, diced
8 mini bell peppers, diced
2 gypsy peppers, diced
2 anaheim chiles, diced
2 guajillo chiles, diced
4 small Rosa Bianca (4″ long, egg-shaped) eggplants, diced
4 medium (4″ diameter) portobello mushrooms, diced
1 750g box Pomi chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp. kosher salt

1. Heat the olive oil and garlic in a large (12″) skillet over medium flame. When the garlic begins to bubble, add the onion and saute for a few minutes, until softened.

2. Add the peppers and chiles to the pan, and saute for a few minutes to soften.

3. Add the eggplant, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes, and salt. Stir to combine everything, turn heat down to medium-low, cover skillet, and let simmer for 30 minutes, until eggplant is thoroughly cooked.

4. Transfer sauce to a large bowl. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until it is mostly smooth, with a few chunks of vegetables.

Pesto Alla Genovese

1 bunch basil
1 bunch flat leaf parsley
2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
4 oz. parmesan cheese, grated
1/2 C. walnut halves
1/2 C. pine nuts
1 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 C. extra virgin olive oil

1. Combine ingredients in food processor. Process until well blended.