Salmon Lasagna W/Cheese Sauce

Chef aVivaSedai's Note:

I wanted to make lasagna for my lunches for the week (single gal, 13 X 9 pan) and was shopping for ingredients and spotted fish. I wanted fish, too, so this lasagna was born! I knew I didn't want a tomato sauce, so after a consultation with my excellent friend Nutmeg (she's somewhere on here) I made a cheese sauce and got to work! 7/23: This is the first version; I'll be adding spices and making further notes. You could change the veggies (add/remove), use different noodles (fresh/cooking required), add different seasonings. Please comment!

• Total Time: 2 hrs
• Prep Time: 1 hrs
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 15

Yield: 1.0 13X9 la ...

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons white flour
• 2 ½ cups milk (I used organic skim)
• 6 -8 ounces gruyere cheese , grated or shredded
• 6 -8 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
• granulated garlic
• onion powder
• 12 ounces salmon fillets , no bones, remove skin and slice into 1/4 in. strips
• 14 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles (I used Barilla)
• 2 -3 cups green zucchini , thinly sliced (3 small)
• 2 cups onions , thinly sliced (2 medium)
• 1 (15 ounce) can tomatoes , petite diced
• 8 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese , grated

Directions:

1. Saute~ the onions in a small pat of butter (not listed in ingredients, could instead be oil) until translucent. I added about 1 T crushed garlic about 2/3 through cooking. Put into a bowl.
2. Saute~ the zucchini in the same pan; could use a pat of butter or oil. Cook until soft. Put into a bowl.
3. Make a roux: Melt the 4 T butter in a sauce pan on low/medium heat. Once it's bubbling, slowly add the flour, using a whisk to incorporate the flour after each tablespoon. Allow the roux to brown, stirring occasionally and making sure not to burn it.
4. Add milk slowly - it will look initially wrong but once all the milk is in it will smooth out. Continue to whisk to incorporate. Let mix come to a slow bubbling.
5. Add gruyere and ricotta in a few steps, stirring to melt and incorporate. Allow cheese sauce to come back to bubbling after each addition. Add garlic and onion to taste. Take off burner and put near other ingredients. (I used 2 measured c of milk, then added a bit more, so it could be up to 3 c milk total to make it a saucier consistency.).
6. Layering: In a 13X9 pan, put a little cheese sauce and 1/3 c of diced tomatoes, mixing them and coating the bottom of the pan. Put down a layer of noodles, then ~6 oz diced tomatoes, onions to lightly cover the layer, then zucchini to cover the onion (about half of each). Lay down the salmon strips to cover the layer - all the salmon.
7. Stir the cheese sauce to incorporate any skin that might have formed, then put ~1.5-2 c sauce over fish to cover. Layer noodles, then the rest of the tomatoes, rest of the onion, rest of the zucchini, ~1.5-2 c cheese sauce. Layer noodles, cover with the rest of the cheese sauce, then add a layer of mozzarella to cover.
8. Bake 1 hr at 350°F Let cool before cutting: 5 long X 3 short. Enjoy thoroughly!