Summer Lasagne with courgettes and green pesto - vegetarian

Today I want to tempt you with a tasty, quick & easy recipe, perfect for Summer and suitable for vegetarians. It's one of my most appreciated recipes, last time I've made it was for Easter and I received lots of compliments and requests for the actual recipe. It should be ready in 60-80 minutes ;)

Ingredients:

500 gr. lasagne sheets

1 l. Bechamel sauce 

(100 gr. butter, 100 gr. flour, 1 l. milk, salt and nutmeg)

5 medium courgettes

1/2 onion

60 gr. Grana Padano cheese

(in the pics you'll see cheddar because last time I made lasagne I forgot to buy Parmesan cheese)

250 ml. Pesto Sauce 

(1 bag of pine nuts, 2 bunches of basil leaves, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper)

How to make Bechamel Sauce 

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, mix butter and flour with a whisk and cook for two minutes or until slightly brown. Add the milk heated in advance (never cold from the fridge!) little at a time, whisk until it's absorbed and then add some more, continue until the milk is all absorbed, whisking continuously. Let it cook and thicken for some minutes.

How to make Pesto Sauce

Put the pine nuts, the basil leaves and 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil together and blend them, add more olive oil if too thick, add more pine nuts if too runny; check for the flavour and add salt and pepper accordingly.

How to prepare Summer Lasagne

Cut the onion and fry it until tender, grate and add the courgettes and let them cook until soft; add salt and pepper. Do not cover to prevent them from getting too watery, if necessary remove excess water before adding them to the lasagne.

Start your Lasagne with a layer of Bechamel Sauce, then lay the pasta sheets (check on the packaging if need precooking), cover with the courgettes (roughly 3 spoons), add a spoon of Pesto Sauce and sprinkle some Grana Padano cheese on top; now start again with the bechamel sauce, pasta sheets, courgettes, pesto sauce and grated cheese and repeat until your tray is full of delicious lasagne.

Bake in a pre heated oven for 30 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius (gas mark 4).

Enjoy!