Spring is around the corner, the air is already warmer, and there’s an abundance of fresh vegetables and fruits arriving at the market stalls. Living in the south, with its much warmer climate, I’m fortunate to find plenty of vegetables early.
Let’s ignite our imagination in the kitchen and after a harsh winter, let’s awaken our body with something fresh and light.
The lasagna with spring vegetables is a vegetarian dish made with the first fresh vegetables of the season, light, colorful, rich in taste and fiber, it’s perfect for Sunday lunches.
Easter is approaching, and what better way to prepare this delicious recipe. Lasagna with spring vegetables is a vegetarian baked pasta solution, perfect also for an Easter Monday picnic, which never disappoints despite the absence of meat, a dish rich in layers of vegetables, lasagna, and a delicate béchamel sauce.
If you are interested in Easter recipes, take a look at my Easter Menu: Simple Recipes Even for Children
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- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 20 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Easter
Ingredients for the Lasagna with Spring Vegetables
- 1 Onion
- 7 oz fresh fava beans (shelled)
- 1 Small leek
- 2 Green zucchinis
- 5 oz fresh or frozen peas
- 12 Asparagus
- 6 Cherry tomatoes
- to taste Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbsps White wine
- to taste Salt
- 0.5 cup Vegetable broth
- 3.5 oz grated Grana Padano
- to taste Dried egg lasagna sheets
- to taste Butter flakes
- to taste Basil
- 3 cups Milk
- 2 oz Flour
- 1.75 oz Butter
- to taste Nutmeg
- to taste Salt
Preparation for the Lasagna with Spring Vegetables
To prepare the lasagna, start with the cooking of the vegetables. Clean, wash, and set all the vegetables aside.
Take a pan, add some extra virgin olive oil, heat it, and sauté the chopped onion with the leek cut into slices. Then add the fava beans; mine were 7 oz net weight, very small and tender, so sauté well for about 2 minutes, then add the zucchinis cut into slices, stir for a few more minutes and add the peas. Continue to stew over medium heat and add the asparagus cut into pieces, leaving 3 whole for the final decoration.Now, add a little white wine, stir, and let it evaporate completely. Finally, add the cherry tomatoes, stir, salt, and add the vegetable broth or water. Cover and stew for about 6/8 minutes; the vegetables should remain al dente.
Preparation of béchamel using stovetop or Bimby:
Stovetop: heat the milk in a saucepan, in another saucepan melt the butter, add the flour, and toast it lightly. This is called a roux. Remove from heat and gradually add the milk while stirring with a whisk. Return to the heat and cook, stirring for about 6/8 minutes or until it begins to thicken; keep it rather liquid, then salt and season with nutmeg.
Bimby: pour all ingredients into the Bimby bowl, set to 194°F speed 4 for about 6/7 minutes; it should be quite liquid, not too thick.Lasagna preparation:
Take a baking dish; for these quantities, I used a rectangular one of 7×12 inches. I used packaged egg lasagna sheets, made 4 layers, and used 12 small sheets of lasagna.
Spread a layer of béchamel on the bottom of the pan, sprinkle with some grated Grana Padano, place the first layer of lasagna, cover again with béchamel and Grana, then add a layer of vegetable filling. Cover again with lasagna, béchamel, vegetables, Grana, and repeat for the other layers.Complete the last layer with béchamel, some vegetables set aside, Grana, and a few butter flakes.
COOKING
Cook the lasagna in a preheated oven at 356°F for about 30 minutes. If you use fresh lasagna or have pre-cooked them in water, even 20/25 minutes can be enough.
Cover the dish with a sheet of aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes, then remove it and let the surface brown well.
When the lasagna is well-cooked and golden, take it out of the oven, let it rest a little, then cut into portions and serve with fresh basil leaves.
For more baked lasagna recipes click here.
Tips and Variations
You can also use fresh lasagna sheets for this recipe or cook the dry ones in water for a few minutes first. In this case, you can make the béchamel thicker.
If you don’t feel like making béchamel, you can use the ready-made packaged one. If you can’t find fresh vegetables, substitute with frozen ones.
For an even richer and more delicious dish, you can complete the lasagna filling with mozzarella or provolone.
