All ingredients ready? Let's begin!
Pre-boil the lasagna sheets in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water for five to six minutes. Remove, shock in an ice water bath, drain and set aside.
Preheat your oven to 375°.
Coak the black beans with vegetable oil, dried oregano, dried marjoram, dried fennel, coriander powder, and a teaspoon of salt and ground black pepper.
Place into a lightly oiled baking tray and drizzle with lemon juice.
Bake uncovered for ten minutes while turning the beans infrequently to ensure even roasting. Once the skins are toasted, remove them from the oven and set aside.
Once the beans are cool enough to work with, mash until roughly broken with a fork and set aside.
Heat a large saucepan containing three tablespoons of olive or vegetable oil over medium heat and saute the onions until the first signs of translucency. Add the garlic and fry until aromatic before stirring in the bell peppers or pimientos.
Pour in two cans of high-quality chopped tomatoes and a tablespoon each of lemon juice, vinegar, salt and sugar.
Turn the heat to high and simmer while infrequently stirring for five to seven minutes or until the sauce starts thickening.
Mix in the tomato paste and cooked quinoa. Stir constantly as it comes to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and cook covered for ten minutes before removing from the stovetop.
Prepare a greased baking 9 x 13 casserole dish or a lasagna pan with extended depth.
Scoop enough marinara sauce into the baking dish to line the bottom of layout three par-boiled lasagna sheets atop.
Mix together the beaten eggs, fresh basil, fresh parsley, a pinch of nutmeg, and cottage cheese.
Spread a third of the cottage cheese mixture over the lasagna sheets to create a layer.
Scatter half a cup of mozzarella over the cottage cheese and egg mixture.
Dispense roughly a third of the mashed black beans over the lasagna layer and cover this with a little less than a third of the marinara sauce.
Start placing another three lasagna sheets atop the first layer and repeat the process twice to place three layers in total.
Place the final three lasagna sheets to create the last layer.
Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese if available, the last of the cottage cheese and egg mixture, and the remaining grated mozzarella.
Drizzle with olive/vegetable oil.
Place a few fresh basil leaves before covering your lasagna tightly with foil.
Bake covered at 375° for forty-five minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for a further ten to fifteen minutes or until the top is golden brown and the lasagna al-dente.
Remove from the oven and allow your black bean lasagna to rest for fifteen to twenty minutes before serving.
Enjoy your best black bean lasagna!