Vegetarian Lasagna

 

I know, a rather odd picture to post on vegetarian lasagna.

The thing is, this  recipe from Saveur magazine, feeds 6-8, and I don’t have any company coming over.  Long story short, I’m not making it just for myself, since I know I’d probably end up eating all myself.  It’s just that good 🙂 Several people who were on my retreat have asked me to post this recipe.  We had it for Saturday night’s dinner, and it was, I think, the best thing we ate all weekend.  It includes a lot of things we probably shouldn’t have been eating on a health transformation retreat, but once and awhile you have to loosen up a bit.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did 🙂

Vegetarian Lasagna

Serves 6-8

12 tbsp. unsalted butter

12 sun-dried tomatoes

1 shallot, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1/2 cup flour

5 cups milk

1 tsp. nutmeg

salt and pepper

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 lb. shiitake mushrooms, stemmed, quartered

1/2 lb. spinach, chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

3 tbsp. chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tbsp. chopped oregano

1 tbsp. chopped thyme

1 tbsp. chopped rosemary

1 tbsp. tomato paste

5 cups whole canned tomatoes, crushed

1 lb. lasagna noodles (do not pre cook, they’ll be less mushy)

2 1/2 cups grated parmesan

2 1/2 cups grated fontina

Grease 9″ x 13″ baking pan with 1 tbsp. butter. Cover dried tomatoes with 1 cup boiling water; soak for 20 minutes. Drain, chop, and set aside.

Make bechamel: Heat 8 tbsp. butter in a 4 qt saucepan over medium heat.  Add shallots and carrots; cook 5 minutes.  Add flour; cook 2 minutes.  Whisk in milk; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, whisking, until thick, 20-25 minutes.  Add nutmeg; season with salt and pepper.

Heat olive oil and remaining butter in a 6 qt. pot over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms; cook ten minutes.  Add diced tomatoes, spinach, garlic, parsley, oregano, thyme, rosemary and tomato paste;  cook three minutes.  Add canned tomatoes.  Cook for 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Set sauce aside.

Heat oven to 375.  Spread 2 cups tomato sauce in baking dish.  Cover with layer of noodles.  Spread 1 cup bechamel over top; sprinkle with 1/2 cup of each cheese and 2 cups tomato sauce.  Repeat layering 2 more times.  Top with remaining noodles, tomato sauce, bechamel and cheeses.

Bake, covered with foil on a baking sheet for 1 hour.  Remove foil; raise oven to 500. Bake until golden, about 15 minutes.