Lasagna primavera is a dish I came up with by stacking sheets of lasagna pasta and alternating them with loads of vegetables that were available at the local market. This morning, I found beautiful white button mushrooms, zucchini, onions, carrots and yellow, red and green bell peppers. I couldn’t resist preparing a colorful meal.
To ensure the vegetables remained the focal point of the dish, I only added enough béchamel sauce to hold the lasagna together and flavored it with basic herbs such as basil, thyme and oregano and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese for extra nutty, salty flavor. This may not be a truly authentic lasagna recipe, but it’s delicious and a great way to get fussy eaters to eat their vegetables.
1. Info for Lasagna Primavera Recipe
- Cook Time: 1 hr
- Total Time: 1 hr 25 mins
- Servings: 8
- Calories: 665
2. Ingredients for Lasagna Primavera Recipe
- 9 ounces pre-cooked lasagna sheets
- 2 onions, thinly sliced
- 1 dozen white button mushrooms
- 2 zucchini
- 1 yellow bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- ¼ cup fresh sweet basil leaves, freshly snipped
- 1 sprig fresh thyme, coarsely chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil (or any neutral oil)
- ¾ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1½ cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 10 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 6½ cups milk, warm
- 1 (14-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper, freshly ground
3. Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F.
- For the béchamel sauce: In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat; you don’t want it to burn. Add the thyme and oregano and let the fresh herbs infuse the butter. Bring the heat back up to medium-high (the butter should be hot and golden) and add the flour. Keep stirring manually with a whisk until the mixture is even. Make sure the flour and butter form a paste and let cook for 3-4 minutes to prevent an unpleasant raw-flour taste. Add 6 cups milk in 3 stages and stir well until fully incorporated. Increase the heat and continue stirring constantly for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low. Add ½ cup each of cheese and nutmeg. Season with garlic powder, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Let rest while preparing the vegetables.
- Preparing the vegetables:
- Trim and slice the zucchini crosswise, about ½-inch thick, then cut the slices into long strips. Repeat the same procedure with the carrots.
- Cut the mushrooms into long slices lengthwise.
- Stem, seed and cut the bell peppers into long strips, then cut them in half crosswise.
- In a large non-stick pan, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add the carrots. Pan-fry them until golden. Toss well and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes until lightly golden. Once the onions are ready, add the zucchini and bell peppers. Cook for 5 more minutes until softened, stirring frequently. Finish with the mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a platter and set aside.
- Check the consistency of the béchamel sauce. Thin the sauce with ½ cup warm milk. Stir well.
- In a (10 x 15 x 2″) oblong baking dish sprayed with oil (for easy clean up), spread a layer of the tomatoes first, then layer 6 sheets of the pre-boiled lasagna sheets. Spread a layer of the vegetables. Sprinkle with cheese and a few tablespoons chopped basil. Spread 2 to 3 ladles of the béchamel sauce, then add another 6 sheets of lasagna. Repeat the same layers until all the ingredients are used up. Finish with the rest of the béchamel sauce. It should cover the whole tray; top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the oven for about 35-minutes at 375°F (until golden brown).
- When it’s cooked, remove the pan from the oven and let it rest for at least 20 minutes. Cut into squares.
- Serve immediately.
- Bon appétit!
