Vegetable Lasagna
Prep 45 mins Cook Noodles 15 mins Bake 60 mins Eat 2:00
Sheltering at Home Vegetable Lasagna
One thing I can do while sheltering at home is cook! I love to cook. I love to eat good food and share it with others. Tonight we are eating a Vegetable Lasagna. Why? Because the only noodles I found in the supermarket were lasagna noodles. I also scored a container of ricotta cheese and some broccoli. I knew I had the rest of what I needed in my freezer. I have a very prodigious lemon tree that the neighborhood walkers forage from and so I got a knock on my door from neighbor Marty, eyeing my fruit trees and he offered me some of his overflowing kale and spinach. I accepted and after disinfecting the bag he brought it in, I placed it in the fridge. Another neighbor, Joanne has chickens and I was able to barter for some eggs. That is how I came to plan tonight’s splurge meal.
This Vegetable Lasagna is great for serving a large group or two people over several meals.
These are different times. I have never seen empty food shelves like we’ve experienced the last couple weeks. The side benefit of sheltering at home during the coronavirus crisis is that we are cooking more at home. My second career was built on teaching others to cook, so this can be a teaching moment for all of us about the benefits of home cooked meals and making due with what you have. What we have now more than anything is lots of time at home and managing our groceries has taken on a whole new importance with long lines and empty shelves at our supermarkets. It’s a great time to think about planting a vegetable garden too so you have food right out your door. Check out some ideas on my friend, Joanne’s website, Change-Making.com here.
Make Turkey Chicken or Vegetable Stock
I confess that I am a bit of a food hoarder. I always have food stashed away in my freezer and pantry. Bits of this and bits of that. A lot like the “nonnas (Italian grandmas) of old” i call it, nothing goes to waste in my kitchen. This morning, I pulled out some frozen chicken bones. I paired it with a chopped onion, a couple carrots and celery. Now I have about six quarts of fresh chicken stock simmering on the stove. Another perfect thing to do while I’m sheltering at home. Learn how easy it is to make fresh chicken, turkey or vegetable stock here. I’m going to freeze most of the strained stock in quart yogurt containers and then use some of it along with some frozen roasted Hatch chiles to make a Green Chili Chicken Stew from the new cookbook, “Keep it Simple” that I tasted at a Melissa’s Produce event with my friend, Cathy. See the recipe on Cathy’s website here.
Home-made Spaghetti Sauce
That brings me back to the Vegetable Lasagna. I also freeze containers of home made Spaghetti/Pizza Sauce from a large #10 can of tomatoes along with tomato sauce and paste about every six months. I scored another #10 can of tomatoes from Smart and Final this weekend to replace what I used in the Vegetable Lasagna. There is no comparison between this “nonna style” sauce and the jarred stuff at the supermarket. Make some and keep it in your freezer. This stuff is amazing for the Vegetable Lasagna, spaghetti, pizza and other Italian dishes.
I have plentiful oregano in my garden and beautiful flowering thyme ready to share with my neighbors.
Use what you have Vegetable Lasagna
This prized recipe for Vegetable Lasagna is a guideline to making it your own with whatever you have in your fridge, freezer and garden. Be creative, barter for ingredients with your neighbors and have fun with it. This method takes a bit of time, but we have lots of that right now.
Have your “mise en place” ready to speed up your lasagna prep.
As always, do your “mise en place” which is a French term meaning get your ingredients out in advance. Set up an assembly line that other family members can assist you in to get it in the oven fast.
Place cooked lasagna noodles on a clean kitchen towel.
Place noodles in boiling salted water. Remove noodles from the pot without draining the water; then cook the chopped broccoli in the boiled water for about 4 minutes. Place noodles on a clean kitchen towel, so they don’t stick together.
Coat the flour with the melting butter and heat until it bubbles.
Make the Balsamella Sauce.
The Balsamella Sauce is a key ingredient in an authentic Italian lasagna. Making a Balsamella or Bechamel sauce is simple once you have made it a few times. The key is to coat the flour with the melted butter before adding the milk. For more information on making a Bechamel or Balsamella sauce and it’s uses, click here.
Add milk. The Balsamella Sauce is thickened when it coats the spoon and the consistency is even.
Stir in the milk continuously as it thickens to prevent the bottom from scorching. Then set aside.
Wilt the greens, which removes some of the moisture.
Cook greens in a skillet to reduce the moisture. I scored fresh spinach and a lovely variety of kale from my neighbor, Marty.
Joanne’s fresh chicken eggs are in my cheese filling.
Make the Cheese Filling.
Mix the eggs with the ricotta, grated parmesan and parsley in a small bowl. I added some fresh oregano, because it’s fresh in my garden now. Here’s a tip: I store my grated parmesan from Trader Joe’s and other leftover cheeses in my freezer. They are perfectly happy there. Grated mozzarella, cheddar, a Mexican mix of Monterey Jack, panela and cotija plus others.
An assembly line with all the ingredients lined up makes assembly quick and easy.
Set up an assembly line of your lasagna ingredients.
- Spaghetti sauce
- Lasagna Noodles
- Cheese filling
- Balsamella Sauce
- Spinach/Kale mix
- Broccoli
- Shredded Mozzarella cheese
In assembly line fashion, build the four layers of noodles with your ingredients.
Now assemble the lasagna. Start with a little spaghetti sauce in the bottom of a 9″ x 13″ pan, place 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce, layer 1/3 of the cheese filling, 1/3 of the Balsamella sauce, 1/3 of the broccoli and spinach/kale, 1/4 of the mozzarella and then the spaghetti sauce. Repeat twice more. End up with a layer of noodles and some spaghetti sauce. Cover and bake it for an hour. Let the lasagna rest for 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve the lasagna squares with more spaghetti sauce on top.
This Vegetable Lasagna is great for serving a large group or two people over several meals.
If the coronavirus has taught me one thing. Having scraps of food on hand in my freezer and pantry is a blessing along with the bounty of my Southern California garden. I always have fresh herbs on hand and I’m currently growing lettuce, arugula, collards and soon the fava beans and cauliflower will be ready. It has now become fashionable to admit that I practice old fashioned food hoarding or planning, as I prefer to call it so that I am ready for any emergency. It’s a lesson we can all learn from our current misfortune. As a cooking teacher, I am pleased to see others engage and enjoy in one of my favorite interests – learning to cook home made meals and using our talents and gifts, whether it’s land to grow food or the creativity to cook and share with others.
Tell me how you are adapting your recipes while sheltering at home.
Vegetable Lasagna
Balsamella (Bechamel) Sauce
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons flour
1 cup milk
1 pinch white pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 pinch nutmeg
Cheese Filling
1 pound ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
2 eggs
1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
The Rest
12 strips lasagna noodles
8 ounces Mozzarella cheese shredded
1 bunch broccoli florets and stems, cut into small pieces
8 cups chopped spinach or kale
1 quart spaghetti sauce
1. Make Balsamella Sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix in flour and continue to stir until it bubbles and the flour granules are coated with the butter. Then add the milk, turn the heat up a little and stir until the mixture thickens. Stir in salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Set aside and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
2. Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. When cooked, remove noodles from the water and spread out on a clean kitchen towel. Add broccoli pieces to the lasagna water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain the broccoli and cool.
3. Add oil to a skillet, add spinach/kale and cook for a few minutes until the greens are wilted. Place in a bowl.
4. Combine cheese filling ingredients in a small bowl.
5. Preheat oven to 350°. Assemble lasagna. Place a small layer of spaghetti sauce in bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce. Layer 1/3 of cheese filling, 1/3 of Balsamella sauce, 1/3 of broccoli and spinach/kale, 1/4 of mozzarella and then spaghetti sauce. Repeat twice more. End up with a layer of noodles and spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake for one hour.
6. Let the Vegetable Lasagna rest for 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve the squares with more spaghetti sauce on top.
Servings: 10 – 321 calories per serving
Vegetable Lasagna
Ingredients
Balsamella (Bechamel) Sauce
- 3 Tablespoons butter
- 3 Tablespoons flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch nutmeg
Cheese Filling
- 1 pound ricotta cheese
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Italian parsley chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
The Rest
- 12 strips lasagna noodles
- 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 bunch broccoli florets and stems cut into small pieces
- 8 cups chopped spinach or kale
- 1 quart spaghetti sauce
Instructions
- Make Balsamella Sauce. Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix in flour and continue to stir until it bubbles and the flour granules are coated with the butter. Then add the milk, turn the heat up a little and stir until the mixture thickens. Stir in salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Set aside and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
- Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. When cooked, remove noodles from the water and spread out on a clean kitchen towel. Add broccoli pieces to the lasagna water and cook for 4 minutes. Drain the broccoli and cool.
- Add oil to a skillet, add spinach/kale and cook for a few minutes until the greens are wilted. Place in a bowl.
- Combine cheese filling ingredients in a small bowl.
- Preheat oven to 350°. Assemble lasagna. Place a small layer of spaghetti sauce in bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan. Place 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce. Layer 1/3 of cheese filling, 1/3 of Balsamella sauce, 1/3 of broccoli and spinach/kale, 1/4 of mozzarella and then spaghetti sauce. Repeat twice more. End up with layer of noodles and spaghetti sauce. Sprinkle top with mozzarella cheese. Cover and bake for one hour.
- Let the Vegetable Lasagna rest for 5 minutes before cutting into squares. Serve the squares with more spaghetti sauce on top.
- ENJOY THIS RECIPE FROM FRESHFOODINAFLASH.COM
We welcome your feedback.