Spring Cooking with Island Menu – Spring Vegetable Lasagne

The wonderful thing about this weeks Guest Blog with Island Menu is that all the recipes look amazing, are no doubt tasty and achievable for an occasional cook like me. I’ve promised the good husband that we’ll be having Sam Shelley‘s Spring Vegetable Lasagne for dinner tonight- who else is with me?! -Jenny x

When Catherine told me we are going to do a Spring themed posts for The Design Files I straight away thought of a spring vegetable lasagne that I had made a few years ago. The first time I made this was when I was ‘courting’ may now fiance…so I must have done something right.

The weather has been pretty crap down here lately (I am so over the wind) but this was a rare calm morning so I made the most of it and made a trip down to Salamanca Market picking up some great spring onions and asparagus.  We also recently scored a lemon tree so it was a chance to pick a few for this dish.

Spring Vegetable Lasagne

1x Bunch of Spring Onions
2x Bunches of Asparagus
3x Lemons
1x Bunch of Spinach
2x Bay Leaves
75g Butter
50g (1/3 cup) Plain Flour
3x Cups Milk
1x Cup Sour Cream
6x Chicken Thighs
4x Rashers of Bacon
1x Box Pasta Sheets (obviously it would be better to make your own but I couldn’t be arsed).
1x Block of Parmesan or Pecorino
White Pepper and Salt
A few Sprigs of thyme
A bunch of Parsley Stalks

Make a roux with the flour and butter then add the milk, sour cream, parley stalks, bay leaves, white pepper (to taste), the zest of 2 lemons and juice of 2-3 (taste it and see what works) and let thicken and simmer for 10mins. Cut the chicken into inch cubes pieces and brown with the bacon and thyme and set aside. Saute the whole spring onions until soft and set aside.

Start to assemble the lasagne. Add a thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of a backing dish then add a layer of pasta sheets, then add chicken and spring onions with a few more sprigs of thyme. Add another layer of sauce and pasta sheets then add the bacon asparagus and spinach. Then add another layer of pasta sheets and sauce. Finish with grated cheese.

Bake for about 45mins until golden on top.

– Sam