Roasted Vegetable Lasagna

For those of you who are tired of the same old lasagna, try making this "white" lasagna. It has no meat and you can really use whatever vegetables you like. The vegetables are roasted, giving them a deeper flavor and the lasagna is assembled with a simple, rich bechamel sauce. Learning how to make a bechamel sauce is easy - you just whisk and cook!

Ingredients:

 for the bechamel:

• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup flour
• 4 cups milk
• some grated nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp ground white pepper
• 1 chicken bouillion cube (amount that you would dissolve in 1 cup water)

note: if you are using Knorr bouillion cubes, remember they are for 2 cups of water - just cut them in half

• Vegetables to roast (you can use anything you like)
• I used a combination of zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, 3 garlic cloves and some chopped up fresh spinach
• Lasagna noodles for one 13x9 inch baking pan

I don't recommend "no boil" noodles for this lasagna.

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

For the bechamel:
In a medium sized saucepan, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and cook for just a minute or so. Slowly add the milk and keep whisking. Add the nutmeg, white pepper and bouillion cube and whisk. Cook for a few minutes, whisking, until the bechamel has thickened slightly. Set aside to cool. Stir it once in a while so a skin doesn't form.

For the vegetables:
Chop vegetables uniformly. Mince garlic. Combine half the mixed vegetables on a baking sheet pan. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast for several minutes at 400 degrees. Stir. Roast for several minutes more until vegetables are soft. You can roast a little longer, if you like them to be slightly carmelized. Repeat with remaining vegetables. Set aside to cool slightly.

Cook lasagna noodles for 5 minutes, until soft. Shock in a bowl of ice water, lay on towels to dry.

Spray a 13x9 baking pan with a little cooking spray. Spoon some bechamel thinly on the bottom of the pan. Start with a layer of noodles, a layer of bechamel, some vegetables, and then a layer of a little parmesan and mozzarella. Repeat layers until you have 6 layers of noodles. On top of the last layer, don't use any vegetables, just some bechamel and the remaining cheeses. Cover tightly with foil.

At this point, you can refrigerate this for a day if you want. When you are ready to bake, bring to room temperature for an hour and then bake for 50 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove foil. Bake for a little longer until top is slightly golden. Let sit for 15 minutes before slicing.

If you really love a tomato based lasagna, try my Lasagna with Red Pepper Tomato Sauce