Recipe: Pasta & Co. Black Bean Lasagna

- 6 sheets fresh lasagna (or enough cooked dried lasagna noodles to make three layers in a 9-by-13-inch pan)

- 1 cup nonfat quark cheese or low-fat ricotta

- 2-2/3 cups grated part-skim mozzarella cheese

- ¼ cup freshly made bread crumbs

1. To prepare the rice mixture: Drain the beans, reserving the liquid. Measure 2/3 cup of the beans for the rice mixture and reserve. Save the remaining beans and liquid for the bean sauce.

2. Cook the rice according to package directions until tender. In a dry skillet, roast the cumin and coriander, taking care not to burn them. Mix hot spices with cooked rice, stir in salt and pepper, and let cool. Stir in corn, vegetable stock, Anaheim peppers, chilies, cilantro and reserved 2/3 cup black beans. Set aside.

3. For the bean sauce: Place 2 tablespoons of the vegetable stock in a saucepan. Add onion, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, pepper, sherry and sherry vinegar. Simmer 3 minutes. Add tomato paste and the remaining black beans and their liquid and cook for another 8 minutes. Remove from the heat.

4. Place bean mixture in the work bowl of a food processor equipped with a steel blade. Process until almost smooth, leaving some pieces of bean intact. Add the remaining vegetable stock and cilantro. Reserve.

5. To assemble: Spread 2/3 cup of the marinara sauce in the bottom of a shallow 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Cover with one layer of uncooked fresh lasagna (or cooked dried) noodles. Spoon on half (about 2 cups) of the rice mixture and ¾ cup of the bean sauce. Top with ½ cup of the quark and 1-¼ cups of the mozzarella. Cover with another layer of lasagna noodles and 1 cup marinara sauce. Follow with the same amounts of rice, black-bean sauce, quark and mozzarella as before. Top with the last layer of noodles and press lightly with fingertips to distribute ingredients evenly in the layers. Top with the last cup of marinara sauce, the remaining mozzarella and bread crumbs.

6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Bake lasagna for 35 minutes, or until sauce bubbles around the edge and top is nicely browned. If top browns too quickly, cover with aluminum foil during last 10 minutes of cooking. If baking lasagna straight from the freezer, add about 20 minutes to cooking time. Once out of the oven, let lasagna set up for approximately 15 to 20 minutes before cutting. (This is critical for ease of serving.)

From "Pasta & Co. Encore" by Marcella Rosene