I love watching the chemistry of Gabriele and Debi in their show, “Extra Virgin“, on the Cooking Channel. I wish I could say David and me got along that well in the kitchen, but we don’t. Just the other day I watched Gabriele make this wonderful Pesto Lasagna and decided I would make it for Meatless Monday.
This vegetarian pesto lasagna is perfect for finishing off that summer basil and was completely different from any lasagna I had ever made. Soft warm lasagna noodles, layered and topped with basic pesto, made with basil, olive oil, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese and a thick creamy bechamel sauce.
Let’s make Pesto Lasagna!
How To Make Pesto Lasagna
First making the pesto. This will give the pesto time for the flavors to meld.
Make the Pesto:
Combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic in a food processor and pulse several times. Drizzle in olive oil while the processor is running until paste forms. Add the Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese; stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a crucial moment for your pesto, as you need to season with salt and pepper, keep in mind that Parmesan and Romano are both dry and salty cheeses. Be careful not to over-salt.
Learn more about making fresh pesto HERE
Make the Besciamella:
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour.
In a separate small pot over medium heat, warm up the milk, but do not boil!
Gradually pour the warm milk into the pot with the butter-flour mixture. Grab a whisk and whisk constantly, bringing the mixture to a boil.
Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Besciamella should no longer taste like flour; if it does keep cooking the sauce over low heat until the raw flour taste is gone. If the sauce becomes too thick, add in a little more milk.
As mentioned above I made my own fresh pasta. Why? Because I could!
While the besciamella is cooking, prepare pasta according to package directions or make from scratch as I did. However, the original recipes says to use No-Boil lasagna noodles, but I have never used them. Feel free to use them if you’d like!
Assemble the lasagna:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Butter a deep 13 x 9 baking dish; add a thin layer of besciamella to the bottom of the dish.
Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles; then pour in another thin layer of besciamella.
Gently spread about 4 tablespoons pesto across the surface, and then top with about 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat until you finish layering the lasagna.
Top with a final layer of noodles and spread a final very thin layer besciamella, pesto, parmesan cheese, and a little butter to help the cheese crisp-up when cooked in the oven. Garnish with dried oregano, if desired.
Cook the lasagna for about 30 minutes. Serve dressed with extra Parmesan and a drop or two of extra-virgin olive oil.
This pesto lasagna can totally be made ahead of time. Assemble the lasagna, cover and refrigerate, until needed. Remember to place the cold prepared lasagna into a cold oven and bring up to baking temperature to ensure the baking dish does not break.
I hope you will enjoy this recipe for pesto lasagna as much as we did.
Pesto Lasagna
Ingredients
Pesto Lasagna
- pesto (recipe to follow)
- besciamella (recipe to follow)
- unsalted butter for baking dish, + more for topping
- 9 ounces lasagna noodles fresh or No Boil
- 1 cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- dried oregano for garnish (optional)
Fresh Pesto
- 4 cups fresh basil leaves
- ⅓ cup pine nuts
- 2 cloves garlic
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil + more for sprinkling
- ¼ cup parmesan cheese freshly grated
- ¼ cup Romano cheese freshly grated
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Besciamella
- ½ cup unsalted butter
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 4 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 pinch nutmeg freshly grated
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
Instructions
Fresh Pesto
- Combine the basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic in a food processor and pulse several times.
- Drizzle in olive oil while the processor is running until paste forms.
- Add the Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese; stir until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. This is a crucial moment for your pesto, as you need to season with salt and pepper, keep in mind that Parmesan and Romano are both dry and salty cheeses. Be careful not to over-salt.
Besciamella
- Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the flour.
- In a separate small pot over medium heat, warm up the milk, but do not boil!
- Gradually pour the warm milk into the pot with the butter-flour mixture. Grab a whisk and whisk constantly, bringing the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat; simmer for about 15 minutes.
- After 15 minutes, season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Besciamella should no longer taste like flour; if it does keep cooking the sauce over low heat until the raw flour taste is gone. If the sauce becomes too thick, add in a little more milk.
Prepare the pasta
- While the besciamella is cooking, prepare pasta according to package directions or make from scratch as I did. The original recipes says to use No-Boil lasagna noodles, but I have never used them. Feel free to use them if want!
Assemble the lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
- Butter a deep 13 x 9 baking dish; add a thin layer of besciamella to the bottom of the dish.
- Cover the sauce with a layer of lasagna noodles; then pour in another thin layer of besciamella.
- Gently spread about 4 tablespoons pesto across the surface, and then top with about 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Repeat until you finish layering the lasagna.
- Top with a final layer of noodles and spread a final very thin layer besciamella, pesto, Parmesan cheese, and a little butter to help the cheese crisp-up when cooked in the oven. Garnish with dried oregano, if desired.
- Cook the lasagna for about 30 minutes. Serve dressed with extra Parmesan and a drop or two of extra virgin olive oil.
Patrons of the Pit says
Even tho there is no meat, the view from your dinner plate makes it worth it. May you never grow tired of it. I don’t think I could.
-POTP
debbeedoodles says
Thanks! I don’t believe we could ever grow tired of a view that constantly changes by the minute. 🙂
Lazy Suzan says
This sounds amazing! Great photos, too. 🙂
debbeedoodles says
Thank you! I hope you will come back and visit my blog again soon. 🙂