Vegetable Lasagna with White Sauce

 The best vegetable lasagna with white sauce with lots of vegetables, creamy bechamel, and cheese, a vegetarian lasagna can hardly get any better.

It is cold around here! A little snow, not much, but bitter cold. Perfect time for comfort food and what can be more comforting than a vegetable lasagna with white sauce and lots of cheese?

I have been making lots and lots of different lasagnas over the years: classic with meat or its lighter version with yogurt, meatless recipes, some with roasted vegetables, some with lentils, chicken or turkey, noodle-free, and many other recipes I didn't even get to post yet.

Lasagna was one of the first more elaborate dishes I cooked myself after moving to Germany. I am saying elaborate not because it's difficult to make, it is really really easy, but because it does involve a few more steps than making just regular noodles.

You will indeed need a little more time and dedication than when making spaghetti with tomatoes, but the results are really worth it! This vegetable lasagna (or any other lasagna, as a matter of fact) is just wonderful!

How to make vegetable lasagna?

Prepare the vegetables, you will need roughly 750 g/ 1.6 lbs:

• Chop the shallots and the garlic clove set aside separately.
• Clean and chop the carrots, bell peppers, and zucchini into small cubes.
• Divide the broccoli into small florets (I often use only the stalk of the broccoli and keep the florets for a salad or a side dish).
• Defrost the peas.
• If using mushrooms, clean and slice them.

This lasagna recipe uses veggies that I have in my fridge or freezer all the time: carrots, peppers, broccoli, peas, and very often zucchini. I often use mushrooms, but as fresh mushrooms don't keep that long in the fridge, I don't always have them.

So, although I absolutely love to have mushrooms in this vegetarian lasagna with bechamel, mushrooms are still rather optional, use them if you have and like them or replace them with more of the other vegetable sorts.

Cook the vegetables:

• Heat the oil and cook the shallots and then the garlic.
• Add the remaining vegetables, except for the mushrooms if using, and continue cooking until they are softer about 8 minutes.
• Add the chopped canned tomatoes, stir well and cook for about 10 minutes.
• If using mushrooms, cook them in a separate pan, about 5 minutes or until golden.

Make white or bechamel sauce:

• Melt the butter in a small saucepan.
• Sprinkle the flour on top and stir for 1 or 2 minutes or until golden.
• Slowly start adding the milk while whisking all the time to avoid the formation of clumps, let bubble gently for a few minutes.
• Adjust the taste with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Assemble:

• Place a few tablespoons of bechamel into a buttered casserole dish and spread it all over the dish.
• Add no-boil pasta sheets.
• Spread ⅓ of the veggies to cover the pasta sheets.
• Add ½ of the chopped mozzarella and ⅓ of the grated Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative).
• Top with more white sauce.
• Continue this way: white sauce + noodles + veggies + cheese and repeat once more.
• Finish with a layer of Parmesan or vegetarian hard cheese.

Cook:

• Cook the in the preheated oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the cheese is golden, the pasta cooked through and the sauce is bubbling.
• Leave to rest for about 10 minutes, this will allow the layers to settle nicely and the lasagna will be easier to cut and serve.

More hearty noodle bakes:

• Chicken and Bacon Pasta Bake
• Cheesy Tuna Noodle Casserole
• Leftover Turkey Noodle Casserole
• Baked Tortellini with Tomatoes and Mozzarella
• Light Cream Cheese Lasagna with Leftover Turkey