Ingredients
Scale
- 12 + 1 lasagna noodles
- 4 large eggplants (cut into ¼-inch slices, soaked in water, drained or dried with paper towel)
- About half a cup cooking oil (half a cup? More or less, probably less)
- ½ kg ground beef
- 3 tbsps minced garlic
- 1½ cup chopped onion
- 1 ½ cup fresh tomatoes (chopped very finely (I used a mini-chopper))
- 2 medium zucchini (cut into 1/2-inch cubes)
- 1 medium carrot (diced finely)
- 1 small yellow bell pepper (diced finely)
- 1 small green bell pepper (diced finely)
- 1 ½ cups fresh mushroom (sliced)
- A bunch, (about a cup of fresh basil leaves, chopped)
- ½ cup tomato paste
- Salt and fresh ground black pepper (to taste)
- 1 tsp ground sweet paprika
- 1 ½ cups each of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese
- 50 g butter
- 3 tbsps all-purpose flour
- 2 cups fresh milk
- 1 large egg
- 2 tbsps olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 350°F. Get a baking pan ready. I used 13 X 9” for this recipe.
- Eggplant. Brush eggplant slices with cooking oil and grill on a pan till light brown on both sides. Keep aside.
- Pasta/Lasagna leaves. Cook lasagna noodles according to package directions – this mostly means cook them in boiling water for 10-12 minutes. Add a teaspoon of salt and about 2 tbsps oil to prevent them from sticking to each other. You may want to cook them by batch and lay them flat on aluminum foil until needed.
- Beef. Sautee ground beef in half a tbsp of minced garlic and 2 tbsps of onions (steal from the same bunch you would use for the vegetables). Keep aside.
- Vegetables and sauce. Sautee garlic and onion in 2 tbsps cooking oil, stirring until translucent. This takes about 5 minutes.
- Add carrots and zucchini then cook stirring for another 2 minutes. Add bell peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes and cook covered (stirring occasionally) for about 5 minutes. Add basil leaves, salt, black pepper and ground sweet paprika. Lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes. Mix with beef.
- Spread about 4 tbsps of the beef-vegetable mixture onto your baking dish; as thin as possible; this replaces brushing the pan with oil. Layer with lasagna leaves, fried eggplant, beef-vegetable mixture then top with cheddar and mozzarella cheese. Repeat the same layer twice.
- Topping. Over low heat, melt butter in a saucepan (I used the same pot for the sauce). Add flour and stir until mixed. Add milk slowly and mix until smooth and a bit thick. Add scrambled egg and mix again. Pour over lasagna.
- Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. Then turn broil on (350°F). With the oven door ajar, cook lasagna until the topping turns golden, about 3 minutes. Brush with olive oil.