Trying to survive this spring, I’ve been indulging in green foods. One I’m in love with right now is a version of an extra green, cheeseless pesto that uses white miso as a secret ingredient and originally came from a green pasta salad recipe in The New York Times. I have been putting it on all kinds of things. It has just the right touch of umami — white miso in pasta sauce is an honored Italian restaurant trick — and uses spinach to give it rich, concentrated color. The sauce is so rich and green, it feels medicinal.
This sauce inspired me to think about making a special Sunday dinner extra-green lasagna with some of the greenest things I could find at the grocery store: leeks, baby asparagus and green peas. The result is a verdant take on classic “lasagna in bianca” or white lasagna, as beautiful and seasonal as it is delicious. I call it Green Queen lasagna because it feels very fancy.
This recipe has a number of components — green sauce, bechamel and sauteed spring vegetables — but I found making it went faster than I expected, thanks in part to using no-boil noodles. You can make the pesto ahead of time, like when you have some extra Costco spinach you need to use, and store it for a few days in the fridge. I wouldn’t freeze to preserve the green color. I used regular grated mozzarella, but you can also use torn fresh mozzarella. In that case, I would use a light hand with it because it can get heavy. When I make it again, I may lay basil leaves on top for one more touch of spring.
Green Queen Spring Lasagna
3 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
2 cups basil leaves, loosely packed
1/2 cup olive oil
1 large clove of garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons white miso
Juice and zest of one lemon
One 9-ounce box oven ready lasagna noodles
2 tablespoons butter
1 large leek, white part only, thinly sliced
1 bunch thin asparagus, bottoms removed, diced in 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup frozen peas
Salt and pepper
2 cups whole milk
1 stick or 1/2 cup salted butter
2 1/4 tablespoons flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
A pinch of nutmeg
1 15-ounce container whole milk ricotta
1 egg
4 cups grated mozzarella
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Make the green sauce. In a powerful blender like a Vitamix or a food processor, add spinach, basil, olive oil, miso and lemon zest and juice. Blend on high until all the ingredients are fully broken down into a smooth, very green, concentrated sauce, that’s sort of a smoothie texture. Set aside.
3. Make bechamel. Melt butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. Sprinkle flour over it and then whisk a minute or two until it smells nutty. Slowly whisk in the milk. While whisking, bring to a gentle simmer until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in salt and nutmeg. Set aside.
4. Make the fillings. Heat a large pan over medium heat and melt the butter. Once it’s melted, add leeks. Saute until softened, add asparagus and peas. Saute until the peas have defrosted and the asparagus is a brighter green, about 2 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, combine ricotta with one egg and two thirds of the green sauce.
5. Assemble the lasagna. Butter a 13-by-9-inch lasagna pan. Drizzle 2 or 3 tablespoons of bechamel in the bottom. Lay three noodle sheets in the pan, spread with 1/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1/3 of the vegetable mixture, about 1/3 cup of bechamel and about 1/3 cup of mozzarella. Continue the layers until you get to the last set of noodles. Spread these with the remaining green sauce, pour remaining bechamel over the top, sprinkle with about 1/2 cup mozzarella and the parmesan. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil and bake for 15 more minutes, until the top is browned and the sides are bubbly.