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Meaty with a dash of veggies

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Noodles Lunch / Dinner Main Courses One Bowl Meals Pasta

Lasagna with Béchamel (white sauce) and pesto

Published: 09.30.2016 » Last updated: 09.17.2023

Seriously, there's more to lasagna than red sauce. Mozzarella is not a must either.

Lasagna with white sauce and pesto

So, this is a baked lasagna dish with Béchamel sauce instead of the usual tomato sauce. If you think that makes a bland pasta dish, consider that there’s ground beef browned with cumin to give off an earthy sweetish flavor and aroma.

Have I mentioned pesto? You might not see it in the photo above but, yes, there’s pesto in every layer of this lasagna dish too. So, you see, tomato sauce is not a must for a good lasagna casserole. But don’t scrimp on the Béchamel sauce and cheese. You’ll regret it if you do.

About the cheese… there’s a copius amount of cheese in this dish. Two cups of shredded mature cheddar tucked between the layers of pasta, meat and sauce.

Yep, mature cheddar instead of the usual mozzarella. Why? Flavor. While mozzarella will give you that stringy effect when a cut portion is lifted, mozzarella is bland. Aged cheese like mature cheddar gives baked lasagna better flavor.

As with any layered baked lasagna, there are four steps in preparing this dish. You have to cook the meat, make the Béchamel sauce, boil the noodles and then assemble them in a baking dish.

Ladling Béchamel sauce into a pan of lasagna with ragu

Béchamel sauce

We rarely make lasagna without Béchamel sauce. I used to prepare it but, these days, my daughter, Alex, has taken over that task.

Get the recipe u0026rarr;Béchamel sauce

Once all the components are ready, you have to divide them into portions. How many portions depends on how many layers you want to make. And how many layers you can make depends on the height of your baking dish.

The number of noodles you’ll need depends on their width and length. For a neat baked lasagna, cut the noodles to fit the pan during assembly.

Lasagna arranged in pan coated with Bechamel sauce

The dish is assembled pretty much the same way as lasagna with meat and red sauce. First, coat the bottom of the baking dish with Béchamel sauce so that the noodles don’t stick to the bottom during baking. Then, add a layer of cooked lasagna.

Lasagna covered with browned ground beef and Bechamel sauce

Cover the noodles with one portion of the cooked ground beef then ladle a portion of Béchamel sauce over the meat.

Lasagna, ground beef and Bechamel sauce topped with pesto and shredded cheese

A portion of pesto goes on top of the Béchamel sauce-covered meat and everything is covered with a portion of shredded cheese. Then, you repeat the layering and pop the lasagna into a preheated oven.

Lasagna with white sauce and pesto

Connie Veneracion
So easy to make, there’s more meat than sauce in this pesto and white sauce lasagna. A treat for lasagna lovers who are adventurous enough to stray from red sauce.
The number of noodles you'll need depends on their width and length. For a neat baked lasagna, cut the noodles to fit the pan during assembly.
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Prep Time 10 minutes mins
Cook Time 50 minutes mins
Total Time 1 hour hr
Course Main Course
Cuisine Fusion
Servings 4 people

Ingredients
  

  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 500 grams ground beef
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 2 cups Béchamel sauce
  • 6 to 8 lasagna cooked in salted water and drained
  • ⅓ cup pesto
  • 2 cups shredded mature cheddar

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.

Brown the beef

  • Heat the butter in a frying pan.
  • When the froth dissipates, spread the ground beef.
  • Cook without disturbing until the underside is browned. Stir, breaking up lumps, and continue cooking until the meat loses its raw appearance.
  • Sprinkle in the cumin, oregano and thyme. Add salt and pepper.
  • Cook, stirring often, until the mixture is almost dry.
  • Taste and add more salt and pepper, as needed.

Assemble the dish

  • Spread about two tablespoons of the Béchamel sauce on the entire bottom of an 8″x8″ baking dish.
  • Arrange the lasagna on top of the Béchamel sauce.
  • Scatter a third of the ground beef over the noodles.
  • Pour a third of the Béchamel sauce over the meat.
  • Take a third of the pesto and drop by teaspoonfuls over the white sauce.
  • Spread a third of the shredded cheese over the layers of noodles, meat and sauces.
  • Repeat the layering procedure until you have three layers of everything.
  • Bake the lasagna with Béchamel sauce and pesto at 400F until bubbly and the top is lightly browned, about 20 minutes.
  • Rest the baked lasagna for about ten minutes before cutting and serving.

Connie Veneracion

Lawyer by education. Journalist by accident. Writer by passion. Photographer by necessity. Good food, coffee and wine lover forever. Read more about me and Umami Days. Find me on Flipboard, Substack and Pinterest.

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