Dear Eric: I am looking for a tasty recipe for vegetarian lasagna with white sauce. I have had it at a restaurant that no longer exists and at a potluck dinner, but have never been able to locate a recipe for it.
Rose Elliott
Dear Rose: I'm a big fan of lasagna, so when your request came in, I couldn't wait to create a recipe for you.
It takes a bit of time to prepare, as you'll need to chop ingredients such as onions, bell pepper, zucchini, garlic and mushrooms. You'll also have to allot time to grate the cheese, cook the noodles, make the white sauce, also known as béchamel, and assemble the lasagna.
Before doing all that, why not put on some Italian music - can you say Dean Martin? - to get in the mood.
Spreading béchamel atop lasagna gives it a splendid richness. To make sure the sauce would hold together once the lasagna was sliced, I mixed in a beaten egg.
Rose could, of course, bake the lasagna right after assembling. She could also assemble the lasagna the morning before needed, cool it to room temperature, tent it with plastic wrap and refrigerate until she's ready to bake it. If she does, she may need to add a few minutes to the baking time, as the lasagna will be quite cold.
Rose could also create frozen, ready-to-heat-andeat lasagna portions. To do so, bake the lasagna as directed, cool it to room temperature, then refrigerate until very cold and set.
Now cut the lasagna into individual portions, lift out of the pan, set in freezer containers and seal, date and freeze. When you're ready to eat, thaw the portions of lasagna you want to eat in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat the lasagna in the microwave, or, if you've placed it in ovenproof containers, in the oven. If you do the latter, you may wish to add a little water or tomato sauce to the dish to keep the lasagna extra moist during reheating.
I like to serve lasagna with a simple green salad and garlic bread, for which you'll find a recipe below.
VEGETABLE LASAGNA WITH BÃCHAMEL
Cheesy, tomato-sauced vegetables and noodles topped with thick béchamel, a white sauce.
Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cooking time: About 80 minutes
Makes: 8 servings
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small yellow or orange bell pepper, finely diced
1 small zucchini, finely diced
1 to 2 large garlic cloves, minced
8 medium mushrooms, sliced
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
- pinch sugar and crushed chili
flakes 1 (680 mL) jar strained tomatoes (see Note)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
12 dried lasagna noodles, cooked as per package directions
4 cups packed fresh baby spinach (about 1/2 a 5-oz tub.)
1 (340 gram) ball mozzarella cheese, grated
1/3 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups warm milk
1 large egg, beaten
? pinch nutmeg
- white pepper to taste
3 to 4 Tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Place the oil in a wide pot set over medium heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, zucchini, garlic and mushrooms and cook until tender and any liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, about 6 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano and basil, sugar and chili flakes. Mix in the strained tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
Spread 1 cup of the tomato/vegetable sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch pan or casserole (mine is about 3 inches deep). Lay 4 lasagna noodles over the sauce. Spread the noodles with 1/2 the remaining sauce; top with 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Top the cheese with 1/2 the spinach, making an even layer of it.
Top spinach with 4 more noodles. Gently press on the noodles to compact the layers.
Spread the noodles with remaining sauce; top with 1/3 more of the mozzarella cheese. Top the cheese with remaining spinach, making an even layer of it. Top the spinach with the last 4 noodles. Gently press on the noodles to compact the layers. Set lasagna aside.
Make béchamel sauce by melting the butter in a small pot. Mix in the flour until well combined and cook 2 minutes. While whisking steadily, slowly incorporate the milk. Bring the sauce just to simmer (it should be fairly thick), then remove from the heat. Beat the egg in a small bowl.
Very gradually dribble and beat 1/2 cup of the béchamel into the beaten egg. Now mix this mixture into the pot with remaining béchamel. Season the béchamel with salt, white pepper and nutmeg.
Preheat the oven 350 F.
When cosmetics become cosmedics Spread the béchamel on top of the lasagna, making sure it completely covers the noodles. Top the béchamel with remaining mozzarella cheese; sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese. Bake lasagna, uncovered, for 60 to 65 minutes, or until the top is light golden and the filling is bubbling. (You may wish to put a sided baking sheet, filled with a bit of water, on a rack underneath the lasagna, just in case it bubbles over.)
Rest the lasagna 10 minutes before slicing. Sprinkle servings of the lasagna, if desired, with chopped fresh parsley.
Note: Strained tomatoes, also known as passata di pomodoro, are crushed tomatoes passed through a sieve, creating a smooth sauce. It's most often sold in glass bottles and is available at some supermarkets and Italian-style foods stores, such as Ottavio Italian Bakery and Delicatessen and Italian Food Imports in Victoria. If you can't find it, substitute tomato sauce.
ROASTED GARLIC BREAD
This recipe is one of the side dishes featured in my book Everyone Can Cook Slow Cooker Meals. Roasting garlic mellows and sweetens its taste and infuses the olive oil it's cooked in with a heavenly flavour. The garlic is then mashed and it and the roasting oil are mixed into softened butter, creating a tasty spread for toasted bread.
Bake the garlic bread while allowing the lasagna to rest and set before you slice it.
Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30-32 minutes Makes: 8 pieces
4 garlic cloves, thickly sliced
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
8 (1-inch) slices of Italian bread
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese to taste
Preheat the oven to 325 F. Place the garlic and olive oil in a small baking dish.
Cover and roast 20 minutes, or until the garlic is tender.
Transfer the garlic and oil to a bowl. Mash garlic into small pieces with the back of a small spoon, then cool to room temperature. Add the butter and parsley to the garlic and oil and mix until well combined.
Increase the oven temperature to 375 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Spread one side of each bread slice with the roasted garlic butter. Set the bread, buttered side up, on the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle bread with Parmesan cheese to taste. Bake the roasted garlic bread for 10 to 12 minutes, or until lightly toasted.
Eric Akis is the author of the bestselling Everyone Can Cook series of cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
eakis@timescolonist.com
