White lasagna with zucchini

Although zucchini are officially a summer vegetable, I must admit I use them for the whole year. Crispy and delicate, they can be used to add crunch and lightness to almost everything.

This is a fabulous recipe – and a very easy one – that can actually be adapted to all sort of vegetables like asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, whatever the season brings you.

Before starting however, please read my vegetarian lasagna recipe. I will briefly remind you that to make good lasagna you need fresh lasagna noodles which must be soaked in salted hot water before layering them with thin layer of sauce and other condiments.

Making a true Italian style lasagna might seem intimidating and time consuming, but it’s actually a breeze if one has good ingredients and follows a logical order in the preparation.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 450 gr / 1 lb zucchini sliced
• 1 clove garlic
• 3-4 leaves fresh basil
• 100 gr (3.5 oz) grated Parmigiano cheese plus 2 tablespoon
• 1 and 1/2 cup Bechamel sauce
• 250 gr (1/2 lb)  young cows-milk cheese like caciotta or mozzarella, thinly sliced
• 250 gr ( 1/2 lb)  fresh lasagna sheets
• 120 gr (1/4 lb) ham, finely sliced then shredded

Directions

Make sure to have ample space on you worktop.

1.  Sauté the zucchini in 1 tablespoon of olive oil until the slices just start to brown. Make sure to use a relatively large non-stick pan so the zucchini will cook quickly and will not release liquid. Add a pinch of salt, one finely minced clove of garlic and a few torn basil leaves, stir quickly and as soon as the mixtures is fragrant, transfer into the bowl of a food processor .
2. Make 1 and 1/2 cup of fairly liquid Bechamel sauce, season with salt and a pinch of nutmeg.
3. Pulse chop the cooked zucchini until finely diced, add 2/3 of the Bechamel and 100 gr (3.5  oz)  of the grated Parmigiano.

Assemble the lasagna:

1. Preheat the oven at 200 °C (400 F). Butter generously a 30 x 22 cm (12 x 8 inch) baking pan.
2. To soak the pasta sheets, boil 4-6 cups of water with 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Pour in a shallow bowl which must be larger than your lasagna sheets. Using a slotted spoon, deep one or two lasagna sheets at a time in the hot water until just soft, approx. 30 sec, strain and place in one single layer in the buttered pan.
3. Once the bottom of the tin is covered by lasagna sheets, pour 1/3 of the zucchini mixture over the pasta sheets and spread it in a 1/2 cm (1/4 inch) layer. Top with  1/3 of the sliced mozzarella and 1/3 of the shredded ham. Repeat two more times using all of the zucchini mixture, ham and sliced cheese.
4. Top with one last layer of pasta sheets, cover thinly with the rest of the Bechamel, sprinkle with two tablespoon of Parmesan. Decorate with a little chopped parsley or chopped sundired tomatoes and oiled, paper-thin slices of zucchini like in the photo above. Bake for 25 min or until bubbly and golden around the sides.

Serve 4 as a main 6 as a primo  ( first corse)
For a vegetarian version substitute ham with smoked cheese, gorgonzola, or other flavorful soft cheese.