My crowd-pleasing green lasagne recipe 🥦

A simple dish, packed with vegetables and perfect for summer gatherings…

Photo © Leia Morrison

We first cooked this at the Do Lectures to champion the local produce of west Wales — wonderful cheeses and vegetables, and foraged wild garlic. We like to change people’s perception of what makes a fabulous supper — it doesn’t always have to contain meat or fish — and we really wowed everyone with this, using an amazing local gouda from Caws Teifi. It’s requested time and again and I’ve sent the recipe to many people. Its beauty is partly using what’s in season, which I hope you do too. Note you can easily substitute for vegan or gluten-free alternatives.

Serves 6–8. Use a 20cm × 30cm baking dish

Ingredients

Béchamel 30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter 30g (3 tbsp) plain flour 450ml (16fl oz) milk 1 tsp Dijon mustard 2 pinches ground nutmeg 200g (2 cups) grated cheddar or a local cheese salt and pepper

Lasagne Choose 4–6 of the following, or any green veg in season: 3 leeks, sliced and sauteed until soft 500g (17 oz) spinach or chard, wilted in 2 tsp olive oil 3 medium courgettes, sliced and sauteed in 2 tsp olive oil until edges brown 500g (17 oz) asparagus, roasted or blanched 500g (17 oz) purple sprouting broccoli, blanched 300g (11 oz) jar of artichokes in oil, drained and sliced 500g (17 oz) frozen peas, cooked and seasoned

400g (9–12 sheets) lasagne sheets, green if you can get them 100g (1 cup) grated cheddar

Pesto 2 bunches basil (or use 20 leaves of wild garlic/ramps) 1 clove garlic 50g (1⁄3 cup) toasted nuts, like pine nuts or cashews 100g (1 cup) grated parmesan 1 lemon, juiced 100ml (7 tbsp) olive oil salt and pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).

Select your green vegetables and cook according to instructions in the ingredients list above.

Then, for the béchamel, melt the butter in a pan then add the flour and stir. In another pan gently warm the milk. Once the flour and butter has cooked for 3–4 minutes, slowly add the milk, stirring to mix in. Once your sauce is made, add the mustard, nutmeg and cheddar, then season.

For the pesto, blitz all ingredients with half the oil in a food processor or with a handheld blender. Add more oil if needed to create a gorgeous green sauce. Season to taste.

Start constructing your lasagne with a few spoons of béchamel on the bottom of the dish. Then layer: one quarter each of pasta, béchamel and a veg or two. Add the pesto to one of the layers. Finish with a layer of pasta, béchamel and cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until the pasta is tender when you pop a knife into it. Serve with a green salad and enjoy.

Recipe by Jen Goss, taken from Do Curate: How to create a small magical event by Clare Hieatt. Published by Do Books.

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