Spring Vegetable Lasagna With Herbed Cream
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 37
- Serves:
-
8
ingredients
-
Vegetable Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups fresh zucchini, finely chopped
- 1 cup asparagus, trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups fresh fennel bulbs, finely chopped
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup carrot, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 cups shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 cup radicchio, finely shredded
- salt
- fresh coarse ground black pepper
- 16 ounces Baby Spinach
-
Risotto Filling
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup arborio rice
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 4 cups chicken stock or 4 cups vegetable stock
- 2 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
- 1⁄2 cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
- 3 1⁄2 ounces goat cheese
- salt
- fresh coarse ground black pepper
-
Herbed Cream
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1⁄2 cup dry white wine
- 2 cups chicken stock or 2 cups vegetable stock
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon, minced
- 3 tablespoons fresh chives, minced
- 1 tablespoon fennel, tops minced
- 1 teaspoon orange zest, minced
- 1 cup heavy cream
- salt
- fresh coarse ground black pepper
-
To Assemble
- 12 sheets lasagna noodles (fresh or dried)
- 10 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
directions
- Preheat oven to 400°; coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with cooking spray.
- In a big pot of salted, boiling water, cook the lasagna noodles—10 minutes for dried or 2-3 minutes for fresh.
- Remove from water, rinse under cold water, drain, and set aside on paper towels to dry.
- Vegetable filling: melt 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil in a big skillet over medium-high heat.
- Saute zucchini, asparagus, fennel, onion, carrot, and garlic until tender and just beginning to color, about 15 minutes.
- Add in mushrooms and radicchio; combine and cook until wilted, about 3 minutes.
- Season with salt and pepper; remove from heat and transfer to a platter.
- In the same skillet, heat the remaining butter and oil; add in the baby spinach, stirring to heat and wilt, about 2 minutes.
- Remove from heat and transfer to platter.
- Risotto: Melt butter and olive oil in a medium skillet over med-high heat.
- Add in the rice, coating it with butter and oil, stirring constantly to lightly brown, about 5 minutes.
- Add in the wine and incorporate; cook until all the wine has evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Begin adding chicken stock to pan ½ cup at a time; between additions of stock, cook until it has evaporated, stirring periodically to combine.
- The rice will begin to plump up and become tender.
- Continue this process of adding stock and cooking until all the stock has been used up.
- At this time, the risotto should have almost tripled in volume and be very fluffy and tender with a creamy consistency, if not, continue to add water or stock until a creamy consistency is reached.
- Remove from heat and transfer it to a bowl; add in the parsley, Parmigiano-Reggiano, and goat cheese; stir to combine and melt cheeses.
- Add in salt and pepper to taste; set aside to cool.
- Herbed Cream: melt butter in a medium-size saucepan over med-high heat.
- Add in flour; whisk to combine; whisk continuously, cooking flour to a golden brown color.
- Combine the wine and stock together in a bowl; add the liquid slowly to prevent lumps; be careful of the steam that will rise from the pan at the initial addition of the liquid.
- After the addition of the wine/stock mixture, add the basil, tarragon, chives, fennel tops, and orange zest; stir to combine.
- Decrease heat to medium and continue cooking for about 2 minutes.
- Add in the cream and simmer for 5 minutes; season with salt and pepper; remove from the heat.
- Assemble lasagna: begin with about 1 cup of herbed cream on the bottom of the baking dish; top with three sheets of noodles, then layer with half of the spinach, then half of the vegetable mixture.
- Top the vegetables with 1 cup herbed cream, and add one third of the mozzarella cheese; repeat with three more pasta noodles.
- Add all of the risotto mixture in an even layer (if the risotto appears too dry after cooling, add about ¼ cup heavy cream or milk to it to moisten it).
- Top the risotto with another layer of three noodles.
- Layer with all the remaining spinach, remaining vegetable mixture, about 1 cup herbed cream, and one third of fresh mozzarella.
- Top with the last three noodles, then add the remaining herbed cream, finishing with the remaining mozzarella.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes or until the top is bubbling and golden brown (you will probably need to pour yourself a drink at this point. to celebrate the conclusion of this labor-intensive dish).
- Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.
Questions & Replies

Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
Have any thoughts about this recipe?
Share it with the community!