Vegetarian Lasagna

As a lover of vegetables, and with many vegetarian friends, I made a vegetrian lasagnae as well as chicken with mustard sauce for one of my first dinner parties in Santa Fe since my recent return.  (Will post the chicken recipe in a few days, very easy and always delicious).

Since I do not favor tomato sauce nor pasta, I have never made lasagna, nor have I eaten it very often (no one believes me, with a name like Bellezza!).  I was inspired to do this lasagna by an image from Pamela Braun's blog, mymansbelly.com of a beautiful vertically layered lasagna.  I changed many of the ingredients and the sauce base and came up with last night's meal.  I was most excited about the home-made ricotta recipe Pamela used from Epicurious (see below).

Notice that I used whole cherry tomatoes since I really do not liked anything tomato saucy at all. I think the home-made ricotta made the dish very special, yummy!  And it is so easy, I will never buy ricotta again.  Thanks Pamela for the inspiration!

Elaine's Vegi Lasagna
A note:  It is best if you have a good mandolin to thinly slice the vegetables, but a good sharp knife will always make due.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini, plump and straight for easier slicing
1 large portabella mushroom, stem removed
1 med eggplant
1 small red onion
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
lots of fresh basil leaves
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1-2  large cloves of fresh garlic puréed in olive oil
Olive oil
long lasagna pasta
2 cups home-made ricotta, with one egg lightly beaten into it
salt
Mornay sauce (basic white béchamel sauce with cheese, recipe below)

• Slice all the vegetables fairly thin, about the thickness of a rubber band (1/8"), if possible.
• Sauté the eggplant in olive oil in a med hot skillet for about ten minutes. This will not cook it through but will sear it and as it absorbs the olive oil, it will be much tastier than dry-cooked eggplant.
• Cover the bottom of the pan with about 1/2" Mornay sauce
• Layer the eggplant around the sides of the dish, then add some ricotta, and continue layering with the mushroom, zucchini, pasta leaves, red onion (sparingly), basil leaves (not sparingly), adding a few brushes of the puréed garlic now and then. 
• Continue to add ricotta between the layers
• Add salt to taste.
• Stick the cherry tomatoes in wherever possible
• Place the red bell pepper on top for color.
• Drizzle with a bit of olive oil

Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes. 

Garnish with finely chopped scallions or finely chopped black olives, if desired. 

Simple Mornay Sauce (Bechamel with Cheese)

Bechamel is France's most basic, easiest, and velvety white sauce. Almost anything can be added to it to make great sauces for any dish. I made this one a bit thicker than normal because the vegetables release their juices and wanted to sauce to absorb them. 

1 quart whole milk (I am sure 2% can also be used)

1/2 stick butter

1/4 cup flour

salt to taste

(for this dish, I added some of the puréed garlic to the sauce)

1 cup romano cheese, (can use gruyere or other cheese)

• Make a roux by melting the butter in a small skillet and adding flour, stirring until a smooth paste is formed.
• Scald the milk in a large heavy-bottomed skillet, turn heat down and add roux, stirring with a whisk, cook for at least 2-3 minutes so that the roux thickens the milk.
• Whisk in the cheese, stir until melted. 

And now, the fabulous home-made ricotta! Gourmet Home-Made Ricotta