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.