Vegetable Lasagna with Cottage Cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.  Place the whole bell peppers on a baking sheet and roast for 30 minutes or until skins are blackened and flesh is tender. Transfer peppers to a glass bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rest until cool enough to handle.
2. While the peppers are cooking and cooling, prepare the vegetable ragout. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil to a large, heavy bottom pan over medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally for 2-3 minutes or until the mushrooms start to brown and give up some of their liquid. Add half a teaspoon of the kosher salt and saute the mushrooms for an additional 3-5 minutes until most of the liquid is gone. 
3. Add the remaining olive oil to the pan and stir in the onions.  Cook for 1-2 minutes or until slightly translucent.  Stir in the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for one minute.
4. Add the zucchini and squash to the skillet and stir to combine. Toss in the bundle of thyme leaves and cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid. Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables start to get tender.
5. Stir in the San Marzano tomatoes and remaining salt to the vegetables and stir to combine.  Simmer for 10 minutes with the lid slightly askew for steam to escape.  Stir in the fresh torn basil and simmer an additional 5 minutes. 
6. Peel the skins from the cooled bell peppers. Remove the stem and seeds and cut the peppers into strips, then cut them again into  1/2" dice. Transfer the bell peppers to the vegetable ragout and simmer for another 5 minutes. 
7. Remove the vegetable ragout from the heat -- it should be thick and not overly wet.

FOR THE CHEESE FILLING:

1. In a medium bowl, combine the cottage cheese, 1 cup of parmesan cheese, egg, black pepper and parsley.  Stir until well combined. Set aside.

ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.
2. In a large 13 x 9" casserole dish add about 1 cup of marinara sauce. Spread the sauce around to lightly cover the bottom of the pan. 
3. Add the lasagna noodles in a single layer to cover the bottom of the baking dish. (Note, if you've used noodles that need to be cooked, pat each noodle dry before layering it into the casserole (you don't want it to too wet).
4. Cover with 1/3 of the cottage cheese mixture and gently spread over the noodles.
5. Top with 1/3 of the vegetable ragout and gently spread over the cottage cheese mixture.
6. Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded mozzarella over the vegetable ragout.
7. Repeat the layers two more times,(noodles, cottage cheese, vegetable ragout, mozzarella) ending in a final layer of lasagna noodles. Spread 2 cups of marinara sauce over the noodles and sprinkle on the last cup of shredded mozzarella. Top with the remainder of the parmesan cheese.
8. Bake for 25 minutes in a hot oven, then spin the lasagna 180° and continue baking for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and lasagna is hot and bubbly. Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting.