Vegetarian lasagne with vegetables and béchamel

Name: Vegetarian lasagne with vegetables and béchamel
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 105 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 270 g dried egg lasagne sheets; 220 g courgettes; 180 g carrots; 300 g button mushrooms; 200 g red onions; 200 g fresh spinach; 400 g passata; Olive oil; 250 g scamorza or mozzarella; 120 g grated hard cheese, made with microbial or vegetable rennet; 600 g whole milk; 50 g butter; 50 g plain wheat flour; Nutmeg; Salt

Local name: Lasagne vegetariane

An Italian-style vegetarian lasagne: courgettes, mushrooms, carrots and spinach in tomato sauce, homemade béchamel, scamorza and grated cheese in five layers.

Published on 30 September 2026

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Method

Make the béchamel. Heat the milk with a pinch of salt and nutmeg. In another pan, melt the butter, add the flour all at once and whisk until the roux turns golden. Pour in some of the hot milk, whisking at once to stop lumps forming, then the rest, and let it thicken for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking all the time. Cover with cling film touching the surface.
Slice the carrots and courgettes lengthways a few millimetres thick, then cut into flat sticks 2 to 3 cm long. Wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth and slice them. Thinly slice the onions.
Cook the onions in a little olive oil over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until translucent. Add the carrots, courgettes and mushrooms, salt them and cook for 5 minutes over fairly high heat.
Pour in the passata, cover and cook for 15 minutes, stirring now and then. Add the spinach in two batches and let it wilt for 2 minutes. Adjust the salt.
Preheat the oven to 180 °C, conventional (no fan). Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the base of the dish and cover it completely with lasagne sheets. Spoon over some béchamel, then spread over some vegetable sauce, a few slices of scamorza and some grated cheese. Repeat to make five layers.
On the final sheets, spread the rest of the sauce, a thin layer of béchamel and the remaining grated cheese, without scamorza. Bake on the middle shelf for 35 minutes, then give it a minute under the grill if the top needs more colour.

This vegetarian lasagne swaps the ragù for a vegetable and tomato sauce: courgettes, mushrooms, carrots and spinach, built up in five layers with béchamel and two cheeses. The dried sheets go straight into the dish, with no boiling.

Parmigiano Reggiano is set with calf rennet. For a vegetarian dish, use a hard cheese made with microbial or vegetable rennet, as stated on the label. The same care applies to mozzarella, as with our insalata caprese.

In summer, the sauce also takes aubergines and peppers. Aubergine has other Italian uses: fried and tossed with tomato and basil in pasta alla Norma, cooked sweet and sour with celery, olives and capers in caponata.

The techniques this recipe uses

Sweat the aromatics
Medium heat, no browning: the onion should turn translucent and sweet, not toasted.
Reduce
Uncovered, water leaves and flavour concentrates. It is done when the sauce coats the back of a spoon.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make vegetarian lasagne in advance?

Yes, once baked: it keeps for 2 to 3 days in the fridge in an airtight container, and it freezes either raw or baked. For a meal two days away, bake it straight away and reheat it before serving rather than keeping the assembled dish raw in the fridge.

Is Parmesan vegetarian?

No. The Parmigiano Reggiano PDO specification requires calf rennet to set the milk. Use a hard cheese made with microbial or vegetable rennet, stated on the label, and check the scamorza or mozzarella label in the same way.

Do the lasagne sheets need boiling first?

Not the dried sheets used here, unless the packet says so: they cook in the oven in the moisture of the béchamel and the sauce. So every sheet must be fully covered. If your dish has rounded corners, trim the corners of the sheets so they lie flat.

Which vegetables can I use through the year?

Peppers and aubergines in summer, asparagus and mangetout in spring, squash, beetroot or cauliflower in winter, adjusting the cooking time of the sauce. Leaves tougher than spinach, such as cavolo nero, go in earlier, or are blanched separately and added to the sauce for the last 2 minutes.

Vegetarian lasagne with vegetables and béchamel

Method

The techniques this recipe uses

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Nutrition per serving

Frequently asked questions

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