Delicious Asparagus Lasagna

When imagining lasagna, my mind's eye conjurs a dense, meaty, cheese-ladened mass. But because it is occasionally suggested that I try a vegetable lasagna, I go ahead and look for one. This one was intriguing because it has asparagus in it. Asparagus in lasagna? In a lasagna that doesn't have a sauce? Turns out, it works exceptionally well.

Rather than buy another box of lasagna noodles, I used the leftover noodles from a couple of boxes in the pantry which means some of the no-cook sheets and some of the "regular" dry noodles that are supposed to get cooked. I went the lazy way and didn't cook or soak them. And instead of using the mozzarella called for, I used the gruyere in the fridge.

Delicious Asparagus Lasagna

adapted from Marcus Samuellson

click to print

9 lasagna sheets
1 tbsp olive oil
2 (7-oz) jars sun-dried tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 packed c fresh basil
3/4 c grated parmesan
1 medium onion, diced
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
15-oz part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
4 oz shredded gruyere

Preheat oven to 350. In a blender, pulse the sun-dried tomatoes and basil until the mixture is combined.

  
Starting with a small quantity in case I'd have to dig it out and chop the stuff in order for the blender to get a good start, I found the blender worked great. The rest of the basil and tomatoes were added, and within a minute or two, I had a very firm tomato pesto.

Transfer to a small bowl. Stir in 1/2 cup parmesan. Set aside.

  

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet. Saute the leeks, onion and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes.

  

Add the asparagus and cook until tender, about 4 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, combine ricotta, salt and black pepper in a large bowl.

 

Stir asparagus mixture into ricotta mixture.

 

Sprinkle some of the sun-dried tomato pesto onto the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish.

Place some lasagna sheets, then half the asparagus mixture.

 

Next sprinkle some mozzarella and parmesan.

Repeat for one more layer.

  
I forgot to image the layer of mozzarella and parmesan.

Top with lasagna sheets, some sun-dried tomato pesto, mozzarella and parmesan.
  

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 minutes.
 

Let sit 5 minutes before cutting.

Looking a little skinny and not at all ooey-gooey, I wasn't too sure how much I'd enjoy this lasagna. Had I not already tried a skinny lasagna with success I probably would've talked myself into not liking this one even before getting into it. Cutting a big eighth from the dish, the bright ingredients were toothsome and surprisingly, the asparagus was not a mushy mess having maintained firmness. The star of this show though is the tomatoes.

Sun-dried tomatoes pack an amazing, huge flavor explosion. I'm talking fireworks in the big city on July 4th sort of explosion. And if you need to have a meaty lasagna, the tomato texture is so meatlike it's possible to forget there isn't any meat at all. Should I ever, though I don't see why, decide to go meat-free, this is my first go-to.

And I also learned that it's possible to use a mixed bag of lasagna noodles and you can't tell the difference unless you spend time examining them. Of course, I may have simply been mesmerized my the marvelousness of this lasagna. It really is delicious.

Cost:

• lasagna sheets: leftovers from boxes in the pantry
• olive oil: $0.12
• sun-dried tomatoes: $13.38
• fresh basil: $1.76
• parmesan: $2.01
• onion: $0.44
• leeks: $1.12
• garlic: $0.10
• asparagus: $2.07
• part-skim ricotta cheese: $3.49
• gruyere: $2.64

Total: $27.13 or $3.39 for each of eight servings.

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