Vegetable Lasagna with Bechemal Sauce

This recipe took up all our burners at once, but mmm worth it.

 It's not very complicated and it has a big impact with a lot of flavors

+ bubbly cheese on top (always a win)

I also liked it because it didn't use ricotta or a lot of cheese

in general but it still had the impact you'd want it to.

While this recipe has a lot going on at once you can't really mess any of it up if you are a little off, it's quite resilient and if stuff gets cold remember you're just going to put it all in the oven so it's no big deal.

Vegetable Lasagna with Bechemal Sauce:

inspired by a recipe from here

8 oz, no boil pasta sheets

4 cloves garlic; minced

1 shallot; diced

1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1/4 tsp cayenne

1 eggplant; cut in 1/4" slices

8 oz. cremini mushrooms; sliced

2 tbs butter

3 tbs flour

2 cups low-fat milk

4 oz. mozzarella; cubed

2 oz. parmesan cheese; grated

bunch of fresh basil

olive oil

S&P

1    preheat oven 450 degrees F and grease an 8x8 dish with tall sides

2    turn a saucepan, preferably cast iron, on medium-high and add a few tbs

      of olive oil

3    sauté the eggplant slices in a single layer for about 2 minutes, flip and

      repeat with other side

4    move them to a plate and repeat with the remaining eggplant slices

5    while you are sautéing eggplant pour a tbs of olive oil into a small pot and

      sauté the garlic and shallots for 3-4 minutes

6    then pour in the crushed tomatoes and cayenne, add S&P to taste, simmer

      for about 8-10 minutes (once it is done turn off heat)

7    on another burner bring a pot of water to a boil

8    once all the eggplant is sautéed, put in some olive oil and cook the mushrooms

      3-5 minutes (once they are done turn off heat)

9    in another small saucepan melt the butter and then whisk in the flour

10  whisk for about 1 minutes, until the mixture thickens and turns a little golden

      brown

11  then slowly stir in the milk

12  cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring frequently

13  I had never used no bake noodles & didn't trust them because I wasn't putting

      them in the oven for very long so I went ahead and boiled them for a few minutes

      in the water

14  once the milk mixture has thickened whisk in 2 oz. of the mozzarella and 1 oz.

      of the parmesan, mix until smooth (once it is done turn off heat)

15  now time to assemble :

      put down a 2 noodles to cover the bottom of the dish

      a good scoop of the tomato sauce

      a layer of eggplant & a scoop of mushrooms

      scatter basil leaves

      drizzle on the béchamel (cheese sauce)

      repeat until you only have 2 noodles left

      top it with the noodles, put 1 more scoop of tomato sauce on

      then sprinkle on remaining mozzarella and parmesan

16  bake for 15-20 minutes/until the cheese is brown and bubbly