Zucchini Lasagna with bacon

Give me lasagna any day of the week.. or almost! Lasagna tastes of mamma.. at least for an Italian. Lasagna takes me back to those Sunday lunches in my childhood with plenty of food on the table.

My mum always used to make the classic meat lasagna and only later she became more adventurous and started making different versions of it. There was the one with radicchio and speck or smoked bacon which I was mad about, one with asparagus and ham which is fabulous at spring time when asparagus are in season and the one with mushrooms and veggies which she would make in autumn when the woods where full of fresh mushrooms. A lasagna for every season!

One type of the lasagna which these days I make quite often is the one with zucchini, smoked bacon and cheese. If you like you can use Italian speck or parma ham instead of bacon. It is luscious and very tasty.. if you like lasagna you must try it and see if you can stop to just one slice!

I can’t.

• Prep Time : 40 minutes
• Cook Time : 35 minutes
• Yield : 6

Ingredients

• dry lasagne sheets – 300 g – 11 ounces
• zucchini (courgettes) – 500 g – 2 + 7/8 cup
• mozzarella cheese – 250 g – 3/5 cup 2.3 cups
• smoked bacon – 100 g – 1/2 cup
• shallot – 1
• olive oil
• For the bechamel sauce:
• milk – 1 Liter – 1.05 qt
• butter – 80 g – 3/8 cup
• flour – 60 g – ½ cup
• nutmeg – the tip of a teaspoon
• salt and pepper

Instructions

Wash and trim the zucchini and grate them.

In a pan stir fry the chopped shallot with 2 tbsp of olive oil. Add the zucchini, salt and pepper and cook them without the lid for about 8 minutes until soft. Do not overcook them.

Make the bechamel sauce by bringing the milk to the boil. Melt the butter in a pan until it starts to foam. Add the flour and gradually add the milk. Bring to the boil making sure that the sauce does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes until the sauce becomes thick. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. If the sauce is too thick add a little bit of milk.

Dice the mozzarella and chop the bacon.

Assemble your lasagna; spread some bechamel sauce on your baking dish (I used a standard baking dish measuring 32 x 23 cm or 12 x 9 inch).

Place a layer of lasagne sheet on top of the sauce, scatter some grated zucchini, mozzarella and bacon on top and cover with some bechamel sauce. Continue until the end of your ingredients. Finish off with a layer of lasagne sheets, zucchini, bacon and bechamel sauce.

Cook for 35 minutes at 200C or 390F until golden on top.

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