Savory Vegetarian Lasagna ala Pukgranden with Crusty Garlic Bread

Vegetables - sliced and ready

You who regularly read my food blog are keenly aware of the fact that I am a carnivore. That is no secret. I am a carnivore - galore - and I know only a few things that are better than a good piece of meat. But, and that is a big but, vegetables are also good and not only good, they are superb in there own right! 

We in Scania are blessed by the fact that here thrives agriculture and vegetable growing in all variations. I have myself also dabbled in a bit of vegetable growing in my small urban garden; a few types of potatoes, some carrots, zucchini, berry shrubs, strawberries and tomatoes. 

On top of that I have maintained an impressive assortment of herbs; Parsley, basil, mint, thyme, rosemary, estragon, chives, bay, sage and marjoram. And next summer I have full intention of rearranging my garden and increasing the production. 

For the following dish we raided the fridge and used what vegetables we came across and thankfully they were in abundance. I had some potatoes, zucchini, eggplant and parsnips which we sliced down extemely thinly using the mandolin to ensure that they cooked evenly and cooked through. 

Savoury Vegetarian Lasagna ala Pukgranden with Crusty garlic bread

Close up of the vegetables - they sure look ready!

The White sauce was not a bechamel sauce, as classical, in fact it was made almost pure from vegetables, i.e a head of cauliflower. I boiled the cauliflower in some salted water and then puréed it with some milk, salt, pepper and and some vegetables stock until I had a smooth sauce. 

The oven proof dish was coated in garlic oil to add flavour

After this we made some tomato sauce. First fry a finely chopped onion and a couple of cloves of garlic in hot oil and season with some salt and pepper. Fry until the onion has taken a translucent shine, you can even allow it to caramelise. This has to be done on low heat so the onion will no burn/brown. Pour a couple of cans of canned Italian tomatoes into the pot, with a tablespoon of tomato puree and seasoning. If the sauce is at this point slightly sour you can sweeten it up by adding some sugar, honey, syrup or even ketchup. Take your pick! 

The tomato sauce was added in layers as in all normal lasagnas

Now nothing remains but to layer the ingredients in and ovenproof dish as the rules of lasagna making dictates: First the sauces, then lasagna plates, sauce, veggies, sauce, plates, sauce, plates and so on - you catch my drift. Why not scatter some basil leaves and garlic oil between layers while you are at it. Finally, a generous grate of some cheese on top and slide the oven proof dish into a preheated oven and allow it to bubble away at 180-200 degrees. A good rule is to pierce through the lasagna to see if the potatoes are cooked. 

The vegetables are added in layers

With the lasagna we served it with some homemade garlic bread, which is extremely simple to make. Cut a baguette in two lenghtwise and pencil each side with a rich amount of garlic oil and bake until crunchy and golden brown. 

The lasagna is serves with a little freshly grated parmigiana cheese

Eat, drink and be merry, Bon appetit!