Roasted Veggie Lasagna with Creamy Pesto Sauce

Have you ever made something so delicious that you thought you may never be able to top it? Like you might as well hang up your apron and call it a day? This was that recipe for me. Legitimately, this might be the best thing I've ever made; and it's the kind of recipe I get really excited to share with you, because I know it's really good. My husband even said he wished people could taste it through their screen, which is high praise coming from my own little food critic.

When I first started working out this recipe, I decided that I wanted to do something a little different. I knew I wanted to use a creamy pesto sauce instead of the standard marinara, but I also didn't want to leave out tomatoes completely, plus I really wanted to have something at least a little green in there. Fast forward through several Pinterest inspiration scrollings and I decided to try adding some yummy roasted veggies to the mix. I used a recipe I've been making a lot lately (see info below), which served to really balance out all of the creamy goodness going on, and it turned out to be the perfect compliment. I'm absolutely sure you'll love it, and I hope you'll share in the comments below if you do! Let's get started.

Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus

Yummmm!!! I am such a sucker for a good hummus recipe. I made this to go with my last post: Roasted Tomato Crostini with Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus. It turned out so good, and we had lots of leftovers for snacking the next day. Check out the recipe below!

Roasted Tomato Crostini with Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you after such a long break. I've had a lot of changes in the last couple of years, including a new job and a brand new baby boy, the light of my life, who will turn 4 months old in just a couple of weeks. I've been busy, very busy, and exhausted, but finally see the dust beginning to settle a little. For the first time in ages, I actually feel inspired to make new recipes and share them. Cooking has always been a big creative outlet for me, and with the demands of being a new mom, I find it gives me a little piece of ME back...a no-makeup, spit-up covered me, but me nonetheless.

This recipe combines some of my most favorite things: bread (I could and often do just live on bread), hummus, and roasted tomatoes. I've been on a roasted veggie kick since right before having the baby. I wanted a way to keep up on eating healthy without spending a ton of time, and have taken to roasting a bunch of different veggies on the weekend and then reheating throughout the week. Roasted tomatoes are one of my favorites and are a great way to add flavor and freshness to pasta, burritos, rice, what-have-you, so when I came across THIS recipe on Recipe Runner via Pinterest I got really excited. I like to make my own hummus, and roasted my tomatoes a little differently, so here's my take on it.

Pesto Spaghetti with Mushrooms and Kale

After taking such a long break from the blogging world, I decided to ease back in with a simple recipe that’s easy to throw together and takes very little time to prepare (basically the time it takes to boil pasta). I used whole wheat spaghetti and loads of vitamin-rich kale to make it a healthier dish that I can make regularly without hurting my waistline. Earthy, meaty mushrooms provide some bulk, fresh lemon juice brightens everything up and compliments the mushrooms amazingly well, and the rest of the ingredients just kind of happened as I was going along, as most of my recipes tend to do. I think it turned out pretty well, and I hope you do too.

Let’s get cooking!

Pesto Cheese Stuffed Shells with Mushrooms & Spinach

This recipe definitely has me wondering why I have never tried making stuffed shells before. I’ve had them previously in the form of those frozen, low fat/low calorie/low taste meals meant to torture dieters (if you are not familiar with these, then I am sincerely happy for you), but never anything like this. Just thinking about the deliciousness I’ve missed out on gives me pangs of remorse, but I digress. 

I had several ideas for the filling, but was inspired by a pesto chicken version I saw recently on What's Cookin, Chicago?; plus I still had plenty of pesto left over from those Monster Veggie Sandwiches I just made, so that pretty much sealed the deal. On a side note, the pesto turns the filling a fun shade of green, which makes them look like little stuffed ninja turtles…I’m not sure if this is bad or awesome.

Monster Veggie Sandwich with Homemade Pesto

Today was definitely a "scattered cook" day. I started out wanting to make simple sandwiches for lunch with a pesto recipe I found. I was inspired by a sandwich I had yesterday with some great friends of mine, which also had a yummy pesto sauce on it. I thought to myself, 'sandwiches will be quick and easy,' so Dustin and I headed off to the store to get the ingredients.

While at the store I decided to pick up other things we needed as well (why make more than one trip, right?), plus the artisan bread in the bakery looked so good...and the cheese was on sale...and I'm sure I can find a recipe for those mushrooms, etc. After an hour, $100, and a serious case of zombie face from my husband, we were finally back home, and I was finally getting to work on the pesto recipe. This is how things developed: