For the first time ever, we’re growing oodles of zucchini and squash in the garden. Not quite to glut proportions (yet), but enough for us to be eating a couple every night. At the same time, our finger eggplants have taken off, and we’ve been turning our bounty into curries, ratatouilles and stir fries.
A couple of weeks ago, Pete created this fabulous lasagne with grilled vegetables, and it was so good that we made it again last night. Our first attempt was vegetarian, but this time we’ve added some leftover roasted duck to the tomato sauce.
The dish doesn’t include a béchamel sauce, but rather a combination of melting cheeses. We’ve decided we prefer it that way!
As with all of Pete’s recipes, this one changes each time we make it. I think it’s flexible enough to adapt to whatever ingredients you have on hand, so please treat these instructions as a loose guideline…
We began with:
- 1 packet (500g) fresh lasagne sheets (we always buy Peppe’s Pasta if we’re not making our own)
- zucchini and eggplant (we used about 2kg (4½lb) in total)
- oven roasted tomatoes, enough for one layer (homemade)
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 x 700ml bottles of tomato passata
- leftover roast duck (entirely optional and substitutable)
- Fontina cheese, grated (we used about 300g)
- fresh Mozzarella cheese (bocconcini), shredded (we used two small balls)
- grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 large onions, very finely chopped
- basil leaves (about 10)
- salt and pepper for seasoning
* We used about 450g (1lb) of cheese in total – any combination should work. If you can’t find bocconcini, mozzarella will work just as well.
1. Thinly slice the vegetables. On a griddle pan over a high heat, cook the slices over a high heat until marked and slightly charred (alternatively, you could roast the slices in the oven). Allow to cool…
2. Prepare the sauce: in a large frying pan or wok, heat the olive oil and saute the two large, finely chopped onions until translucent. Add the leftover duck (if using) and stir until heated through. Then pour in two bottles of a good passata (we like the Mutti brand) and the shredded basil leaves, and simmer until well cooked and thickened (about 20 minutes). Taste and adjust seasoning as required…
3. Prepare the lasagne according to the instructions on the packet – we placed our sheets in boiling salted water for two minutes, then refreshed them in cold water before use.
Preheat the oven to 180C (360F) with fan, and lay out the ingredients, ready for assembly…
4. Spread a little sauce over the base of a large baking tray, then top with lasagne sheets, a generous ladle of sauce, one of the grilled vegetables and a portion of the grated Fontina cheese. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Gently (!) squish down on each layer as you go to flatten and even out the sauce and filling (best to do this after the pasta sheets are laid down and before adding the sauce and grilled vegetables)…
5. Continue layering until all the ingredients have been used up. Our layers consisted of zucchini, eggplant, zucchini and finally, semi-dried tomatoes. Top with a final layer of pasta, more sauce and scatter over the shredded Mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheeses. Make sure to spread the sauce evenly over the pasta, to ensure it doesn’t dry out as it bakes. Season with pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil…
6. Bake until golden brown (from memory, it took about half an hour in the oven), then rest for about 15 minutes before serving…
This is a perfect dinner party dish, particularly for entertaining vegetarian friends. It’s so rich and filling that no-one really misses the meat!
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 
I wouldn’t get my hubby anywhere near that dish, but, me, I’ll be over for dinner. Save me a spot at the table! Looks mouthwateringly delicious!! Before I leave, though, I might make off w/ your dish, so you better keep an eye on it. It is a beautiful dish! From the picture it looks like a burgundy color, but maybe its brown. So glad you’re enjoying your zucchini!
Mel, isn’t the dish gorgeous? It’s by Emile Henry and the colour is Fig, although it’s a dark aubergine purple…
http://www.emilehenryusa.com/Urban-Colors-Figue-cat24.html
Absolutely wonderful! The duck makes it special, I am sure….
Beautiful photos of a superb meal!;-)
Sally, I really liked it with the duck, but Pete preferred the vegetarian version!
That is mouthwateringly lovely!
I long for summer and fresh veg.
Won’t be long, Heidi! :)
I promised myself a lot of veggies for the New Year. Right now down with the worst flu ever…not cooking, not posting just looking at posts and trying to catch up since December. Your lasagna would be right up my alley if I had taste buds that worked. Take care….
Norma, get well soon! I’m sorry you’re so sick! xx
Sounds like a delicious lasagna using your wonderful fresh vegetables….then adding the duck takes it over the top.
Karen, thank you – we’ve been baking this dish a lot, as the squash just keep coming! :)
This is going into my must-make folder. I’ll wait until I can buy fresh, local veg. At the moment, most of it is coming from Kenya, Monrovia, and Israel.
Misky, our garden has taken a bit of a hit over the last week with scorching hot temps, but it’s raining today, so hopefully it will recover. Hope your local veg aren’t far off!
That looks very pretty. I would never have guessed it doesn’t contain much, if any, meat! Once there is an abundance of veggies again I’ll have to try it. Thanks for sharing!
Manuela, it really doesn’t need the meat! I think this will become our go-to vegetarian dinner party dish!
This is definitely on my “to-make” list when my garden starts producing. The grounds are still snow covered but will not be for too long, I hope.
Norma, we don’t get snow here, so our gardens will still produce well into winter. It’s hard to imagine how cold it must be over there! Hopefully you’ll be harvesting soon! x
Oh my good lord… that looks divine, Celia!
Thanks Nick! :)
Those are truly interesting zucchini – in your pic, are they all zuchs (the dark green ones look like cucumbers). In my garden, I have to limit the number of zucchini plants, lest they over produce – last summer we did fine with 2 greens and 2 yellows.
Very nice lasagna – congrats to Pete.
Doc, sorry to be confusing – the dark green ones are cucumbers, the strange looking one is a tromboncino and the other two are Lebanese zucchinis! :)
Yummy, Celia! I miss growing zucchini. Must do it again next season.
Lizzy, it’s the first year we’ve managed it successfully!
This looks delicious, I prefer the melted cheese to the béchamel sauce too.
Deb, Pete kept saying we didn’t need bechamel, and it would only be a filler.. ;-)
I raise my flag to no béchamel. I love this dish and it looks so inviting!
Thanks Maureen! :)
I love your lasagne dish! What a great recipe. This looks so yummy. What a great use of all your fresh produce xx
Charlie, we missed you yesterday! :) I love the lasagne dish as well – bought it for a song during a PoK sale one year!
Celia, doesn’t your lasagna look wonderful! I have so many wild drying tomatoes to pick…….have been wondering what to make; both freezers are full of roasted tomato essence.
Would you mind if I add it to a recipe journal I’ve been given for Christmas?
Elaine, I’m glad you like the recipe! Of course you can add it to your recipe journal, although if it’s going online, please just be sure to link back to our blog! Thanks.. :)
No it’s a hand written journal…..thank you.
Of course it will be named Pete’s vegetable lasagna
Oooh that’s cool Elaine, he’ll be chuffed to know that! :)
My mouth is actually watering right now. Yuuummmm.
I hope you get a chance to make it! :)
Wonderful recipe I can try almost immediately, ’cause followed the fresh vegetable truck > supermarket on Friday and went slightly beserk in the section :) ! Yes, prefer the cheeses to bechamel also, and think I can halve the amounts without any problems: only a 1/4 of yours needed :D ! Happen to be a bocconcini addict as well . . . . . !
Hope you enjoy it, Eha! :)
Thanks Celia, that’s dinner here tonight. I’ll be subbing a pecorino for the fontina, chicken for the duck — oh my I wish I had some leftover duck! I’m sure this will be a winner for us as we don’t like bechamel.
Rose, leftover duck isn’t common here either! :) I thought I’d miss the bechamel, but I really didn’t!
Dear Celia,
Your grilled zucchinis look perfect for this vegetarian dish.
Whenever I entertain my vegetarian friends, I would normally prepare either rib eye steaks, leg of lamb or a slab of roast pork belly with a small side of greens like chopped English parsley mixed with a bit of lemon juice and fresh red chillies to whet their appetite.
Oh, I’m sure they’re delighted, Chopinand! :D
I love the idea of grilling the vegetables first – gorgeous!
Kari, the grilled veg add a nice touch, but I think it would work just as well to bake them in the oven!
Knock out dish there, Celia – and it looks so glistening and lovely in the pic!
Thanks Amanda! It was fun to make!
May I borrow Pete to cook dinner for me please Celia? I’m sure he could make it for me with gluten free pasta- yummo!
I’ve just picked 3 zucchini today, but they are just warming up :)
Becca, I grated and froze some as you suggested! Thanks love! x
Is that a No on Pete then? :)
It looks delicious, Celia. When we get to a glut of zucchinis we let some grow out to marrows. Great stuffed in winter or as marrow and ginger jam.
Meg, I never thought of making jam with zucchinis before! Wow! Thanks for the suggestion!
What a delicious dinner! We’ve just been given a 1.6kg zucchini and am trying to think of ways to use it.
Clare, they grow into monsters, don’t they? :)
How wonderful to make such an amazing meal with your own harvest veggies.
:-) Mandy xo
Mandy, it was really nice that most of the veg came from our backyard! The joy of being able to harvest and then eat never seems to grow old! :)
Oh boy Celia this looks delicious. How great that your zucchinis are doing so well. Yum!
Claire, it’s been a great year for squash, although the tromboncinos have overgrown and killed the butternut pumpkin we planted!
Oh this looks fabulous. I’m having real trouble getting my zucchini’s to “full term” and so far none of my eggplant flowers have stuck long enough for any eggplants to appear.
Mel, that’s exactly the problem we had in previous years – the zucchs would all go yellow and fall off! Are you manually pollinating? The yellow ones are falling off because they haven’t been pollinated. Mind you, sometimes the flowers just don’t open either!
Celia, this looks awesome! The smoky grill flavor combined with the tomatoes and cheese must’ve been amazing. No wonder you made it twice! Do you think it would freeze well?
Em, I haven’t tried freezing it, but yes, I do think it would freeze well! If we ever have any leftovers, we’ll give it a go! :)
Applause from a vegetarian! Bravo!
My hub just got me “River Cottage Veg Everyday” by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and we made a zucchini dish from it last night that was super. More veg!
Hugs, Maz.
I think that’s a fabulous book Maz, I’ve bought it for vegetarian friends as well! x
I made the egg salad and lentil sammie for lunch today and it was pretty darn tasty. I made the bread recipe from it last night and it was stellar! (Though i admit that I had to look up what “Strong flour” and “Soft flour” was. :-)
This sounds so good, Celia. The combination of vegetables, all roasted to perfection, with the cheeses, tomatoes, and herbs must have made one incredible dish. What a great way to take advantage of your garden’s harvest!
Thanks John! It’s been a popular dish here these hols! :)
Very timely for me to discover your blog and this recipe as our garden is now in the throes of a full-on zucchini glut (and cucumbers and squash and beans and so forth…). Looks like the perfect way to use up those zucchini escapees that haven’t been picked in time! Thanks!
Heather, thanks for dropping by! Usually we make zucchini slice, but this is a nice change!
https://figjamandlimecordial.com/2010/04/27/genies-zucchini-slice/
Char-grilling is the best way to prepare courgettes in my opinion. Baking them with cheese and pasta….well that’s the icing on the cake.
Sally, they’re really great that way! The tromboncinos are even better, as they don’t have seeds that get stuck to the griddle pan! :)
Zucchini are so plentiful nowadays! We have lots in the fridge-not from our garden (what garden?) but it’s hard to resist when it’s such a bargain :)
See, that’s the only downside of gardening – when things are plentiful in the garden, they’re also cheap to buy! It would be great to be able to grow things out of season.. :)