EAT YOUR WORDS: Vegetarian Lasagna for the Broke and Busy + Feng Sun Chen
Adapted from this roasted squash lasagna on Brooklyn Supper.
hey, you: you're busy as hell, so you should make yourself a nutritious, fancy feeling dinner you can eat all week and feel good about
You can make lasagne with basically anything. I am serious: frozen spinach? Rad. Sweet potatoes? Awesome (roast them first, ala squash original). Squash? What the food blog recommends. I made this with pureed pumpkin, because it is already soft and comes in a can. I tried it with sweet potatoes -- while roasting them you can just sort of ignore them for 45 minutes, which is awesome if you have shit to do at home -- but I liked the pumpkin even better. But if something else is in season and is your jam -- I can, for example, totally imagine a savoury fruit lasagna, but that's because I have a fruit problem, as in I will eat so many apples I feel sick the next day, and I know I will do this from experience; YES POETRY EVERYDAY never claimed to be a genius -- then you could probably either roast it or make it soft and squishy and mix it with ricotta and put it in a lasagne. Note: there is no photo of this lasagna (which is perhaps best for everyone because I have awful kitchen lighting and naught but a computer camera) because I ate all of it in record time.
Lasagne noodles (or another pasta that will take up significant area. I officially promise you that no will judge you on whether or not you have actual lasagne, because no one gives a shit, not even/especially not your roommates)
1/2 cup to 2 cups heavy cream -- use what you got
up to 6 tablespoons butter or margarine
2 - 4 tablespoons ricotta
oregano and basil, to taste
2 cups cheese you have on hand, grated -- recommended: mozzarella and parmesan (this is really the only expensive bit)
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
MAKE A BECHAMEL SAUCE. Don't let the name fool you: this ain't hard. Melt butter in the pan. When it's all melty and starting to get brown and smell really good, add the flour, bit by bit, whisking as you go. (No whisk? Fork or spoon will do.)
Slowly add the milk and cream, whisking as you go. Let the sauce thicken. Whisk occasionally. If it's not thickening, add a little more flour, tablespoon at a time. Once it's fairly thick but still fluid, take it off the burner and add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Done.
While you're making the bechamel, cook the pasta. Once it's just slightly al dente/you think it's done, take it off the burner and drain. Hit it with cool water in a colander if you can, so it stops cooking. Set aside.
PREPARE PUMPKIN by removing it from the can, putting it in a bowl, and mixing in ricotta. Season to taste if you want.
ASSEMBLE LASAGNA by greasing a baking pan. Coat the bottom of the pan with 1/4 of the bechamel sauce. Cover with noodles. Add 1/2 of the pumpkin, one third of the cheese, and another third of the sauce; cover with noodles. Repeat. On top of final layer of noodles, drizzle the last of the bechamel and grate a little cheese over it.
Cover your lasagna with foil and bake. After the 45 minute mark, uncover the lasagne. Bake for ten more minutes. Remove from oven. Congratulations! You have dinner for the next week.
Notes: YES POETRY EVERYDAY would like to note that if you want to impress your muse, this lasagna is a great, inexpensive way to do it. Tried and true, every time.
Serve warm with a simple salad, a poem that accidentally became sexual because you insisted on prolonging that one fruit image, "DUCK DUCK GOOSE" by Feng Sun Chen
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