Delicious Veggie-Lasagna

This is a recipe for a really delicious veggie lasagna. It might take some time for preparation, but all in all it is very easy to make, and once you take a bite of it you will know, what you have worked for.

Don' stick to much on the amount of every single ingredient. I used what I had at home, so you can do the same. You can easily use any other veggies or add some spices if you like. Also if a sauce is to thick, add some more liquid, if it's not creamy enough, add a bit of flour to thicken it up. Keep in mind that this might not be an original Italian lasagna, just put in what you like and what makes you happy.

This lasagna feeds 4 normal eaters or 2-3 very hungry ones.

PS: Of course you don't need a ultra modern kitchen like mine, but if you don't have those lovely tiles in the background, I am not sure if it works out ;)

Ingredients:

• 1 onion
• 1 courgette
• 1 aubergine
• 1 can of tomatoes (I added a few small tomatoes)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 l milk
• 2-3 table spoons flour
• 200g of cheese
• 12-15 lasagna sheets (depends on the size of your casserole)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• butter
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• Italian herbs

Cooking materials:

• 1 cutting board
• 1 good knife
• 2 pots (1 big, 1 small one)
• 1 casserole dish
• 1 whisk
• 1 ladle (not in the picture)
• 1 cooking spoon

First of all, peel the onion and cut it into small pieces.

Cut the aubergine into small cubes and sprinkle it generally with salt.

Also cut the courgette, garlic and the tomatoes.

If there is too little space on the board, you can store some vegetables in a bowl, while you cut the others. Or you cut some vegetables while the others are cooking in the pot. But therefore you should be a bit experienced in cooking and quite fast at cutting.

Put the big pot on the stove, an it turn it on medium heat. Add some olive oil (1-2 tablespoons). Then add the onions and let it cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Don't forget to stir.

When the onions are braised, add the salted aubergine. At this point you cann add a bit more olive oil and then let it cook for another 5 minutes until the aubergine is nice and soft.

Let it cook for another 5 minutes. If you haven't done it yet, now it is time to finely chop the garlic, cut the tomatoes and open the canned tomatoes.

First add the garlic and let it roast for 30 seconds, so it won't get bitter. Then pour in the canned tomatoes and the diced tomatoes. If it's too thick you can fill about half of the can with water an add it to the sauce. If you do this you don't waste the nice tomato sauce, which is normally left in the can.

Add some salt, peeper and herbs. Then turn it down to low heat, cover it with a lid and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the tomato sauce is cooking, you got time for preparing the béchamel sauce.

Therefore you heat up some butter in the small pot and add 2-3 table spoons of flour. Make sure to whisk well, so it wont get too crumbly and burn.
When the flour is getting nicely brown, add the milk. Whisk, whisk, whisk, so you get a creamy sauce without crumbles. Add some salt pepper and nutmeg. When the milk is boiling, it will get very creamy, exactly as you need it for the lasagna.
If it is not creamy enough, add some flour. If it is too thick add some milk. Then turn it of and put the pot aside.

Also check on the tomato sauce and turn it off.

Preheat the oven on 175° Celsius.

Pour a little bit of béchamel sauce into the casserole dish. Don't worry, if they don't fit perfectly, they can easily overlap. If the sheets are too big, just break them, so they fit in.

The pour in a ladle of béchamel sauce and a ladle of tomato sauce and spread it. Then you cover it with lasagna sheets. Keep on doing like this, until there is no tomato sauce left. Make sure to keep a bit of béchamel sauce for the top.

Once the casserole is fully loaded, cover the last layer of sheets with the last bit of béchamel sauce.

Put the cheese on top. You can use any cheese you like, I used a mix of grated and freshly cut mozarella cheese.

Then put the whole thing in the oven for about 40 minutes or until the cheese is golden and crusty.

Once the lasagna looks golden and crusty, take it out and let it cool for a bit. Don't forget to turn off the oven.

Now cut it into pieces and enjoy!

Buon appetito!