Vegetarian Lasagna : Basic + Awesome…
Vegetarian lasagna is a lighter and more colorful version of baked lasagna, a first course beloved by young and old alike, and the undisputed star of the Sunday lunches of many Italian families! With its tasty layers of vegetables and béchamel sauce, interspersed with thin veils of good homemade puff pastry, vegetarian lasagna will win over even the most difficult palates!
For the egg pasta:
- 200g (1 2/3 cups) ’00’ flour or all-purpose flour
- 2 medium eggs
For the béchamel sauce:
- 1 liter (4 1/4 cups) whole milk
- 100g (3/4 cup) ’00’ flour or all-purpose flour
- 100g (7 tablespoons) butter
- Salt to taste
- 1 pinch of grated nutmeg
- 1 pinch of black pepper
For the filling:
- 250g (9 oz) button mushrooms
- 170g (6 oz) zucchini (courgettes)
- 200g (7 oz) carrots
- 200g (7 oz) red onions
- 250g (9 oz) broccoli
- 200g (7 oz) cherry tomatoes
- 200g (2 cups) grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
- Fresh thyme to taste
- 30g (2 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil
- Black pepper to taste
- Salt to taste
How To make Vegetarian Lasagna:
- To prepare the vegetarian lasagna, start by making the egg pasta first. Pour the flour into a bowl, keeping about 50 g of flour aside. In a separate bowl beat the eggs, then add them to the flour and start kneading until the ingredients are mixed.
- Now transfer the mixture to a pastry board and knead it, adding the flour kept aside as needed, until you obtain a smooth, firm and elastic dough to which you will give a spherical shape. Wrap it in food-grade plastic wrap and let it rest for about 30-60 minutes outside the refrigerator in a cool, dry place.
- Meanwhile, take care of preparing the béchamel sauce. Pour the butter into a saucepan, let it melt gently then add the sifted flour, stirring quickly. Once you have a hazelnut-colored roux add the boiling milk and stir again.
- Season your béchamel with a pinch of pepper, salt, a grating of nutmeg and continue to cook, always stirring, for 5-6 minutes, until it reaches the right density. At this point transfer the béchamel sauce inside a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
- Wash all the vegetables and start chopping them. The carrots should be peeled and julienned, for the broccoli you will need to take only the florets and the onion should be finely sliced.
- Peel the zucchini and cut them into julienne. Clean the mushrooms, slice them and also cut the cherry tomatoes in half.
- Once all the vegetables are prepared, pour the oil into a pan and add the carrots first, let them cook for a couple of minutes and add the broccoli as well. Deglaze with a little water, cover with a lid and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. At this point also add the onions and then also zucchini and mushrooms.
- Let the vegetables cook, stirring occasionally, and only when they are cooked, season with salt and pepper, then turn off the heat and add cherry tomatoes and thyme.
- At this point your egg pasta will have rested, take back the dough ball divide it in half and roll it out with the dough sheet machine. Roll it out again, reducing the thickness from time to time until it is about 2 mm thick.
- Once you have obtained the sheets make sure to cut out 8 rectangles 15X20 cm 28 large. At this point blanch them for 1 minute in boiling, lightly salted water, drain them and place them on a tray lined with a kitchen towel. If you prefer, you can quickly pass the sheets of pasta in a bowl with cold water to stop the cooking, then lay the rectangles always on a clean towel, but the important thing will be to place the various rectangles well spread out and without overlapping them.
- Once the pasta is cooked, take a 30X20 cm baking dish, add 2 or 3 tablespoons of béchamel sauce and spread it over the entire surface of the baking dish. Place 2 dough rectangles, side by side, cover with more béchamel sauce, sprinkle with grated cheese and place 1/3 of the vegetables.
- Cover with two more sheets of dough and proceed in this way for two more layers, until you run out of ingredients. When you reach the last layer of béchamel sprinkle with more grated cheese, top with the vegetables and bake in a preheated static oven at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes, then operate the grill and bake for 5 more minutes. Take your vegetarian lasagna 36 out of the oven and serve while still hot.
Bon Appetit!
