Golden Lasagna

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Serves 4 Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil

6 medium carrots, unpeeled, in small chunks

1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped

4 young garlic cloves - or 2 regular garlic cloves - sliced

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 teaspoon Maldon salt for the vegetables

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 cup vegetable stock

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 tablespoons flour

2 cups whole milk

2/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano, divided

1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt for the bechamel

12 ounces of fresh pasta sheets - I bought mine from the grocery store or you can make your own

1/2 cup stracciatella or burrata
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella
1 teaspoon chopped chives to finish Method

Start to heat the olive oil in a skillet and add the vegetables and thyme and salt. Stir to coat everything with oil. Add the vinegar and vegetable stock. Then cook on medium, partially covered, for about 20 minutes, or until the carrots are completely soft. Once the carrots are done, the liquid should be nearly gone. Then blitz in a blender until it is the consistency of a puree. Depending on how much liquid is left, you may need to add a tablespoon of

water to get it going in the blender. Now set aside.

Preheat your oven to 325° F convection.

While the carrots cook, make your béchamel. Melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Then stir in the flour and cook, while stirring constantly, for a couple of minutes. Then stir in the milk gradually while continuing to cook for about 10 minutes. Keep stirring every few minutes so that the bottom doesn’t burn. Stir in 1/3 cup of the Parm and then remove from the heat. 

Assemble the Lasagna: Spread a scoop (about 1/4 cup) of béchamel on the bottom of a baking dish. I used a round Pyrex. Next, spread a scoop of the carrot puree (about 1.5 tablespoons) across the béchamel. Now add in a sprinkling of the grated Parm and a small layer of the stracciatella, approximately 1 teaspoon. Now a the next layer of pasta. Do this until you are nearly at the top. The final layer underneath the top layer of pasta, add the Mozzerella to that layer. Now place the final layer of pasta and do just a layer of bechamel. Top that with the remaining Parm. You want the Parmesan to cover generously that top layer so if you need to grate more, do so. Dot that with remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and it’s ready for the oven. 

 Into the preheated oven for about an hour, or until the top is golden and bubbly and gorgeous. Let the lasagna sit for 5 minutes before serving. I like cutting it with a serrated knife and then topping each serving with finely chopped chives.

This was sooooo incredibly delicious. Serve it with a simple green salad and you will be blown away.

Enjoy! xx Corre