A vegetarian lasagne from the Liguria region.
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This is the fourth and final recipe in our series on regional lasagne dishes. This is a vegetarian delight: green beans, potatoes slices and pesto genovese in a Béchamel sauce.
As I'm looking to present as authentic a recipe as possible, I will say I find this a little plain in truth; when I remake it, I'll add chilli flakes for a bit of bite.
In this series
INGREDIENTS
green beans
potatoes
fresh egg lasagne
pecorino
Pesto Genovese
fresh basil
garlic
parmesan
pine nuts
olive oil
Béchamel
milk
plain flour
butter
nutmeg
pepper
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METHOD
Cook the lasagne in boiling water for around 2 minutes, then put it in ice cold water to stop it cooking
Lay the sheets out on dish cloths and cover them to dry
Keep the pasta water
Peel the potatoes and slice them thickly
Top and tail the beans, and cut them into vaguely equal lengths
Cook the beans and potatoes in the boiling pasta water for about 5 minutes
Drain and set aside - reserving the water (again)
Pesto Genovese
NB - proper pesto Genovese is done with a mortar and pestle and takes a while. It also shouldn't be cooked when added to pasta. This version is blitzed, ad we're going to blast it in the oven anyway!
Pop the basil leaves in a bowl or jug
Add the garlic
Blitz for a bit - not to a paste
Add the parmesan, pine nuts and a goodly amount of olive oil
Blitz to a paste
Add the pasta water a little at a time, mixing as you go, until the pesto has a creamy, pourable consistency
Béchamel
The general ratio is equal amounts butter and flour, and those two should each be 10% of the milk
So...
1 litre milk; 100g butter; 100g flour
Heat the milk, adding nutmeg and pepper. Whisk them through it
Do NOT let it boil!
Melt the butter, and add the flour, whisking it through thoroughly
It's important to incorporate ALL the flour into the roux (the paste you make with the butter and flour), otherwise you get a cooked four taste from the sauce - this is nowhere near as nice at it sounds...
Now... the classic French style is to gradually add the milk to the roux and keep whisking.
The classic Italian Béchamel procedure is to tip the roux into the milk and whisk it like mad - in a minute or two you have a thick sauce.
I prefer the Italian method.
If the sauce is too thin, make a little more roux in a pan and add it in, whisking as you go.
If the sauce is too thick, add milk - whisking as you go.
Lasagne - Assemble!!
A little Béchamel and pesto on the base of the dish
Layer of pasta
Layer of...
Béchamel
Pesto
Veggies
Parmesan & pecorino
Layer 2
Béchamel-pesto-veggies-parmesan/pecorino
Layer 3
Béchamel-pesto-veggies-parmesan/pecorino
Layer 4 - top layer
Béchamel-pesto-veggies-parmesan/pecorino
Sprinkle with pine nuts
30-35 minutes at 180ºC
Leave to stand for 15 minutes before portioning
The music, Reflect is here