Lemon Garlic Vegetable Lasagna with Chicken

For the Lemon Garlic Béchamel:

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. flour

4 cups milk / cream {I added probably 1/2 cup cream and the rest whole milk, do any combo you like}

2/3 cup grated Parmesan

2/3 cup grated Pecorino

the zest of one lemon

4+ cloves garlic, finely minced

SALT!

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook over medium heat for a few minutes, cooking out the taste of the flour. Add in the milk, and stir until boiling. Let it boil for a few minutes. Add in the cheeses, lemon zest, and garlic. Add in plenty of salt. Make sure that the sauce tastes really good and is well seasoned going in. If it is too thick then add some more milk. I don't like mine gluey!


For the lasagne prep:

Get salted water boiling for noodles. I used flat, whole wheat sheets which were excellent.

Vegetables:

Washed Baby Spinach

1 zucchini

2 carrots

handful of sliced mushrooms

1 onion

2-3 cloves garlic

Cheeses:

Plenty of shredded mozzarella

Parmesan

Ricotta

Chicken:

It's optional.

Putting it all together:

Dice the onion or slice into rings. Saute over low heat until translucent, adding salt. Add in the minced garlic. As I did this, I slid them to the side and sauteed the mushrooms, leaving them in the pan as long as I could without touching them, hoping to get a nice golden color.

While those cook, grate the carrots and use a mandoline {if you have one} to slice the zucchini in beautiful, uniform,lengthwise, thin slices.

Once the mushrooms and onions / garlic are done, just throw both of those into the pan for just a little bit of heat to get them going.

Drain the noodles. If you time it right, all of this should come together really fast.

Grease a Baking Dish {I used an oval dish that is half-ish of a 9x13}. Pour some bechemel on the bottom. Layer with noodles, more sauce, vegetables, chicken, and then cheese. Repeat this, adding in the ricotta only every other layer. Get plenty of sauce in there {though you will have some leftover}, people like it saucy!

Top with Parmesan and Mozzarella and bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbly.

Natalie Riley