Ah, lasagna. With layers of gorgeous sauce, creamy bechamel and savory cheese held together by perfect noodles, lasagna is the epitome of Italian comfort food. And while the iconic dish churns up memories of a lovingly crafted ragu sauce filling the house with its nostalgic scent for hours, lasagna can take lots of shapes, sizes, inclusions and even appearances. In fact, there are a slew of exceptional vegetarian lasagna recipes that offer equally delicious end results. A vibrant hue of shocking green, this green lasagna recipe is as delicious as it is striking. With fresh spinach cooked into the bechamel and broccolini sauted into the sauce with Wild Fennel Pesto, whip of this feast for the eyes (and the whole family) for a healthy, green lasagna everyone will remember.

GREEN LASAGNA

Serves 6

INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BECHAMEL

▢ 4 tbsp butter
▢ 4 tbsp flour
▢ 4 cups whole milk
▢ 6 cups fresh spinach
▢ pinch ground nutmeg
▢ salt and pepper

FOR THE LASAGNA

▢ 1 pack lasagna noodles
▢ 2 tbsp EVOO
▢ 2 bunches broccolini, chopped
▢ 1 onion, minced
▢ 2 cloves garlic, minced
▢ 1/4 cup white wine
▢ 1 jar Fennel Almond Pesto
▢ 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
▢ salt and pepper
▢ 1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. 
2. Grease a 9x12 inch baking dish with olive oil and set aside.
3. Add the milk and fresh spinach into a food processor and blend until smooth. 
4. Heat a large pan over medium heat and melt 4 tbsp butter. Once the butter is melted, add 4 tbsp all purpose flour and whisk to combine, stirring constantly until the flour begins to smell toasted and the mixture begins to go from yellow to a light brown/tan color. 
5. Pour in the spinach/milk mixture and whisk to combine. Bring to a low simmer, then reduce heat and whisk continuously until the bechamel is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat. 
6. Place a large pan over medium heat. Add 2 tbsp olive oil. Add the onion, broccolini, and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Sauté until the broccolini and onion have softened. Deglaze the pan with white wine and cook down. Stir in the Fennel Pesto and basil leaves and remove from the heat. 
7. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and season with salt. Par cook the lasagna noodles so they begin to soften, but are not soft, just 4-5 minutes. Drain and separate so they don’t stick together.  
8. Now, let’s start to assemble the lasagna. Cover the bottom of the greased baking dish with ⅓ of the broccolini sauce. Ladle bechamel sauce overtop and spread it to evenly cover and sprinkle with a large handful of grated Pecorino Romano. Evenly layer lasagna noodles overtop of the sauce. Repeat 2 more times. Ladle the remaining bechamel sauce over top of the top layer of lasagna noodles, then sprinkle with the remaining Pecorino Romano.  
9. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the tin foil and bake for another 10 -15 minutes until the top of the lasagna begins to brown. 
10. Serve immediately. 
11. Mangiamo.