One thing I want to note, before anybody reads any further: I do not make this in a 9×13 casserole dish. I make it in a lasagna pan. They’re a lot taller so you can fit a lot more stuff in the layers. If you try to follow this recipe using a casserole dish, you probably want to skip the final layer of stuff and you will have a lot of ingredients left over. It’ll still taste great, just saying that my amounts are based on that. Also, in true Ben fashion, I don’t measure stuff in here all that well. Sorry. Measure with your heart.
My version is a little different. Personally I prefer a cream sauce with my vegetable lasagnas, so I make a bechamel and then load it down with cheese for a sauce. The secret ingredient is black truffle in the sauce. It doesn’t take much and it ends up infusing the whole dish without being overpowering.
That’s probably because it’s got so many different vegetables in here. I cook almost everything down before I build the lasagna to intensity the flavors, with the exception of the mushrooms. The layers of mushrooms are completely optional and go in raw, and all they end up doing is soaking up any leftover sauce as it cooks. I’m not actually sure if they make a difference, if you take a bite of this you probably won’t even notice them, but I like mushrooms so I’m leaving them in. If you don’t feel like going through the effort (or if you just don’t like mushrooms) then you should feel free to leave them off.
Amounts provided here are approximate. You will most likely have some leftover broccoli, onion, squash, and mushrooms once you’re done, and that’s okay. You can throw them out or reserve them for a salad or an omelette or something. As far as garlic, I’ll just say “Add some garlic” over and over. Whenever I say that add three or four minced cloves.
Finally, if you can’t find truffle cheese or truffle butter, feel free to just use mozzarella. It’s not necessary to use truffle anything, it just tastes great.
Oh! And when I make it I roll my own pasta. I’m just going to say “use boxed noodles as necessary,” might take a couple boxes.
When it comes to assembly, I don’t know how to portion things out, I just do it by eye. For each layer, use a third of the ricotta mixture, 1-1 1/2 cups of sauce, 1-2 cups of veggies and maybe two cups of shredded mozzarella? I really don’t know. I will take pictures next time I make it so you have reference.
Ingredients
3 crowns broccoli, florets removed and stems discarded
2-3 yellow squash, thinly sliced
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 pounds portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced (ideally on a mandolin)
12 ounces frozen spinach, defrosted, with as much of the moisture squeezed out by hand as you can
16 ounces ricotta cheese
2 pounds mozzarella, grated
2 cups grated parmesan, with more for serving
3 eggs
6 cups milk
6 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
1 pound truffle infused cheese or another pound of grated mozzarella
2 tablespoons truffle butter (optional)
Olive oil
Garlic, minced. We will be using a lot of garlic. Mince 4-5 cloves of garlic each time I say “add garlic”
2 boxes of lasagna noodles, prepared according to the directions on the box
Directions
Roast the vegetables: Preheat your oven to 350. Toss the onion, squash, and broccoli in a bowl with a few tablespoons of olive oil, and spread out over two sheet pans. Roast for 30-40 minutes, until everything is softened. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Once cooled, dump the roated vegetables into a bowl with some minced garlic and mix it all up together.
Make the ricotta filling: in a bowl, mix together the spinach, ricotta, eggs, 1 cup of the grated parmesan, and some garlic. You can add crushed red pepper flakes or other hot peppers to it if you like it spicy. Set aside
Make the sauce: In a large pot, melt the butter and optional but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED truffle butter, saute some garlic for a minute or two, then mix in the flour to make a roux. Add the milk and heat, stirring frequently, until it begins to foam and thicken. Add the truffle cheese (or just mozzarella) a handful at a time, stirring to melt it into the sauce, and then add the other cup of the parmesan and keep stirring until you have a ridiculously rich sauce.
Assemble the lasagna: Add half a cup of sauce to your lasagna pan and rub it around so the bottom is coated. Add a layer of lasagna noodles, then top with mushrooms, roasted veggies, a few dollops of the ricotta filling, a few handfuls of shredded mozzarella, and drizzle a cup of sauce over everything. Repeat this two more times, noodles-mushrooms-veggies-ricotta-mozzarella-sauce, then add a final layer of noodles. Top this layer with another cup of the sauce and the remaining shredded mozzarella.
Cover with foil and bake at 350 for an hour or until the cheese on top is browning. If after an hour it’s not brown, remove the foil and bake for up to another half an hour.
Let rest for an hour, slice, and serve with more of the sauce on top and some grated parmesan! And some antacids.
eatbensmeat 