vegetarian lasagne with grilled, marinated aubergine, homegrown tomatoes and a browned butter bechamel sauce
Made with homemade pasta, grilled aubergine marinated with garlic and capers that is layered with homegrown tomatoes and a browned butter bechamel sauce. And of course, plenty of parmigiano.
I mean, with all that - what can go wrong? This is one of my favourite vegetarian dishes, and it’s a combination of my two favourite Italian dishes: Lasagne and Melanzane alla parmigiana.
It all started with me finding these beautiful, Turkish aubergine in the store. These aubergine are a bit longer and more slim than the “normal” aubergine that are to find in Swedish supermarkets. But most of all, they taste better and more.
See the video below for a step by step guide
The tomato sauce
2 cans of Good tomatoes / 2 burkar Goda tomater
Olive oil / Olivolja
Garlic / Vitlök
Fresh herbs / Färska örter
Always start with the tomato sauce! A good tomato sauce needs time, and it should go “low and slow” - simmer on low temperature for a long time. I used my own homegrown and canned tomatoes from this summer. But it’s of course also possible to buy canned tomatoes, if possible try to find San Marzano tomatoes as they are really good for sauces.
Start with heating up the oil on medium/high temperature. Add the peeled and squashed garlic and the tomatoes. Add the fresh herbs and lower the heat, to let it slowly simmer while you prepare the other components of the lasagne.
You can use the fresh herbs that you prefer, today I used the leaves from celery as that was what I had still in the garden, I picked it in the snow the same morning!
The pasta dough
400 G flour “Tipo 00” / 400 G mjöl “Tipo 00”
4 eggs / 4 ägg
a pinch of salt / en nypa salt
Pour the flour and the salt on the work surface and shape it like a “volcano”, break the eggs in the centre. Use a fork or your hands to gradually mix the flour with the eggs to form a soft dough. If it’s too dry you can add a small amount of cold water. Knead for 5 minutes or until it feels smooth. Shape into a ball, wrap in cling film and leave to rest for at least 30 minutes.
Roll out the pasta, by machine or using a rolling pin, into thin sheets. Cut the pasta into sheets that fits well to the oven tray.
Marinated aubergine
3 aubergine / 3 aubergine
100 ml olive oil / 1 dl olivolja
one clove garlic, chopped / en vitlöksklyfta, hackad
2 tbsp capers, chopped / 2 msk kapris, hackad
Heat a tablespoon olive oil and add the chopped garlic and capers, give them a nice toss in the olive oil and cook for a minute or two. Turn off the heat and add the rest of the olive oil.
Slice the aubergine in slices that are approximately 3 mm thick. Grill in a dry grill plate or pan.
When grilled place the aubergine slices on a plate and pour over the marinade, mix it well to make sure that all the slices of aubergine are equally covered with the marinade.
bechamel sauce
100 g butter / 100 g smör
6 tbsp flour / 6 msk mjöl
1 l milk / 1 l mjölk
salt + pepper + nutmeg / muskotnöt
Start with browning the butter in a sauce pan. When it turns brown and starts to have a lovely scent it’s ready. Then add the flour. Whisk until all the flour has incorporated with the butter without lumps. Then add the milk, little by little, continuously whisking to get a nice and even mix without lumps. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a few minutes. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
finally time to assemble the lasagne!
Start with pouring bechamel sauce in a buttered oven tray, it should cover the bottom of the tray.
Add a layer of pasta.
Pour some bechamel sauce on top of the pasta.
Add some tomato sauce.
Add a layer of the marinated aubergine.
Cover with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.
Repeat from step 2 until you have used all the components.
Finish with a layer of pasta, cover it well with bechamel sauce and lots of grated Parmigiano Reggiano!
Cook in the middle of the oven, on 175 degrees, for about an hour. Let the lasagne rest for a while before you serve it. It is even better the next day!
This kind of food is perfect to do in these kind of days when working from home. I often prepare a big batch like this on Sundays, and then we can eat it for lunch or dinner for several days. Serve with a nice salad, for example with fresh tomatoes and basil.
