Teamwork with Mama in Marseille for this delicious lasagna. I prepare the bechamel sauce as she takes a shower after the beach, she takes over the cooking of the meat by adding zucchini, her personal touch , I finish building the lasagna layers and we put the lasagna in the oven while we are having a drink! Perfect timing… I did not intend to publish this culinary improvisation but Toya really loved that lasagna, and begged me to do so, saying that there was no classic lasagna recipes on Fashion Cooking. Facing such convincing arguments, I had no choice but to take pictures and to publish the recipe.

Lasagna too good to Mama

Prep: 25mins
Resting time: 1hr (optional)
Cooking: 35mins

Serves 5-6 people

- lasagna noodles (without pre-cooking)
- 2 zucchini
- 2 onions
- 4 tomatoes
- 1 Neapolitan sauce
- 1 tbsp sugar
- fresh basil
- 500g ground beef
- 150g ricotta
- 1 ball of mozzarella
- grated cheese
- olive oil

Bechamel
- 40g butter
- 4 tbsp plain flour or cornflour
- 1/2 l milk

Prepare a bechamel sauce: Melt 40g butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat, Spread flour on the butter while whisking until you make sure that there are no lumps left. Add warm milk very slowly, stirring all the time to avoid lumps. Then back on the heat and let thicken over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the consistency of a béchamel (homogene and smooth, not too thick or too liquid, it has to coat the back of the wooden spoon).

Prepare the filling: Peel the tomatoes (1 min dip them in boiling water for easy peeling) then remove the seeds and cut the flesh into pieces. Rinse the zucchini and tomatoes. Cut the zucchini and onions into small cubes. Fry the onions in a skillet pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil for 3 minutes. Add zucchini and brown them 3 min. Add the minced beef and tomatoes and brown again for 5min. Pour the Neapolitan sauce with fresh and choped basil and 1 tablespoon of sugar to remove the acidity and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Mix the ricotta with the béchamel (add a little milk if it is not liquid enough).

In a gratin pan, place a first layer of lasagna sheets. Each time, cover the lasagna sheets with ricotta béchamel. Alternate a layer of vegetable and meat mixture , a layer of mozzarella and another layer of meat-vegetable mixture. Finish with lasagna sheets covered with the ricotta bechamel sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

If possible let it rest 1 or 2 hrs for the white sauce to soak the lasagna sheets.

Place in preheated oven at 180°C for 30-40min until the lasagna sheets are golden. It is cooked when a knife can plunge into the lasagna without difficulty.

Serve hot with green salad.