{"id":462,"date":"2020-12-26T20:14:10","date_gmt":"2020-12-27T00:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/?p=462"},"modified":"2020-12-26T20:16:41","modified_gmt":"2020-12-27T00:16:41","slug":"vegetarian-lasagna-with-grilled-zucchini","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/2020\/12\/26\/vegetarian-lasagna-with-grilled-zucchini\/","title":{"rendered":"Vegetarian Lasagna with Grilled Zucchini &#038; Tomato"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Firstly, it is really hard to get an appealing photo of lasagna! They don&#8217;t really photograph well&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>But this is my absolute favourite lasagna! It&#8217;s from a Curtis Stone recipe, one he did for Coles (local supermarket chain in Australia). It&#8217;s nicely well-balanced, with the cheesy b\u00e9chamel, tangy tomato sauce, grilled zucchini and sharpness of the parmesan. It takes a rather long time to make (need to make the b\u00e9chamel sauce and tomato sauce separately, each pretty time consuming, and then grill the zucchini before assembling), so we usually save this for special occasions!<\/p>\n<p>This is a doubled recipe, but makes enough for about 3-4 meals (for two people). It makes the large rectangular Pyrex dish and the square Pyrex dish.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ingredients<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For Bechamel Sauce:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">8 Tbsp Butter<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2\/3 cup Plain Flour<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">6 cups Full Cream Milk (use less than this!!)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2 sprig Fresh Thyme<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3.5oz Parmesan Cheese, grated (divided)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">~1lb White Cheddar Cheese<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nutmeg<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">salt and pepper, to taste<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2-3 boxes Instant Lasagne Sheets<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the Grilled Vegetable<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">10 medium-large Zucchini, ends trimmed and sliced lengthwise into 6.5 mm strips<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2\/3 cup Coles Olive Oil<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For the Tomato Sauce<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5 tbsp Coles Olive Oil<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2-3 small Brown Shallot, finely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">7 cloves Garlic, minced<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5 large sprigs Fresh Thyme<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3 Bay Leaf<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2-2.5 cup Dry White Wine<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">5lb Truss Tomatoes, coarsely chopped<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Directions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Tomato Sauce:<\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and garlic and saut\u00e9 for 1 to 2 minutes or until tender.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add the thyme and bay leaf.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add the white wine and reduce until almost dry, then add tomatoes and bring to a simmer.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Simmer gently uncovered over a medium to low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 40 minutes or until the tomatoes break down to form a chunky sauce (you may need to add a little water during the cooking process if the sauce thickens too much). Season to taste with salt and pepper and remove the bay leaf and thyme sprigs and discard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Grilled Zucchini:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While the sauce is simmering, preheat char grill or grill pan on medium high heat.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rub the sliced zucchini on both sides with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Working in batches, grill the zucchini for 1 to 2 minutes per side or until slightly charred and nice grill marks are achieved. Remove the zucchini from the char grill to a plate and reserve.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">B\u00e9chamel Sauce: <\/span><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Melt the butter in a heavy based medium saucepan over medium low heat.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes or until the flour and butter have formed a uniform mixture.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Slowly add the milk and stir constantly with a whisk until the sauce is smooth. Add thyme.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Bring the sauce to a simmer and cook stirring constantly for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the sauce is smooth and thick and the starchy taste of the flour has been cooked out.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Add 1\/2 of the parmesan and 3\/4 of the cheddar to the b\u00e9chamel and stir until combined well. Season the sauce to taste with a little nutmeg, salt and pepper and remove thyme sprig and discard.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Assemble Lasagna:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Preheat oven to 180\u00b0C. In a baking dish, spoon about \u00bd of the tomato sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish in an even layer and top with a layer of pasta, cutting the lasagne sheets as needed to fit.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lay a single layer of the grilled zucchini over the top of the lasagne sheets and spoon 1\/3 of the b\u00e9chamel over the zucchini.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Lay another layer of pasta over the b\u00e9chamel and a single layer of zucchini over followed by the remainder of the tomato sauce. Cover with another layer of pasta followed by the remaining zucchini and top with 1\/3 of the b\u00e9chamel. Lay the final layer of pasta over the b\u00e9chamel and spread remaining b\u00e9chamel over the pasta. (Note: baking dishes will vary in size, top layer of lasagne should be pasta topped with b\u00e9chamel). <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sprinkle the remaining parmesan and cheddar evenly over the top of the b\u00e9chamel then cover lasagne with foil and bake for 30 minutes. <\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remove foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes, the top should be bubbly and golden brown. If the lasagne has not coloured on the top you may increase the oven temp to 200\u00b0C for the last 10 minutes of cooking. Before removing the lasagne from the oven check that the middle is hot and that the pasta is cooked through by inserting a small knife into the centre of the lasagne. The knife should be hot to the touch and should go into the lasagne with little to no resistance.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Remove the lasagne from the oven and allow to rest at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes to cool slightly before serving. Using a sharp knife, cut the lasagne into portions and place onto serving plates with a large flat spatula and serve.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Firstly, it is really hard to get an appealing photo of lasagna! They don&#8217;t really photograph well&#8230; But this is my absolute favourite lasagna! It&#8217;s from a Curtis Stone recipe, one he did for Coles (local supermarket chain in Australia). It&#8217;s nicely well-balanced, with the cheesy b\u00e9chamel, tangy tomato sauce, grilled zucchini and sharpness of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,8,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comfort","category-pasta","category-vegetarian"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":466,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462\/revisions\/466"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hungrychooi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}