When you think of lasagne, you probably think of the famous Lasagne alla Bolognese with bolognese ragù and bechamel sauce. There are however more types of lasagne, such as Lasagna alla Napoletana with ragù alla napoletana, meatballs, sausage, and ricotta, or this Lasagne alla Genovese with pesto. I had never made it before but I will definitely make it again as it was delicious and surprisingly light. Lasagne alla Genovese is made with a mixture of pesto alla genovese and bechamel sauce, to which vegetables can be added. In this case I added roasted zucchini, an idea I got from the Italian blog Il Marito Perfetto (the perfect husband).
As with all lasagne it is best when made from scratch and as all lasagne that is quite a bit of work. But you can do it in advance and it is worth it. For this lasagne alla genovese I used the pesto from the man versus machine experiment. With homemade pesto and fresh homemade pasta this is outstanding. Lasagne can be a bit heavy, but compared to other types of lasagne this one is light.
Ingredients
For a 28 x 18 cm (11 x 7 inch) lasagne dish, 4 servings as a primo piatto or 2 servings as a full meal
lots of freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
For the pasta
2 eggs
about 200 grams (1 1/4 cups) Italian 00 flour
For the bechamel sauce
500 ml (2 cups) milk
30 grams (3 Tbsp) flour
30 grams (2 Tbsp) butter
freshly grated nutmeg
For the zucchini
3 zucchini
olive oil
salt
Preparation
Make fresh pasta dough from the eggs and the flour according to my instructions and roll it out into thin sheets. Parcook the sheets as described in my previous lasagne recipes. You should now have enough sheets to make 4 layers of dough in the 28 x 18 cm (11 x 7 inch) lasagne dish.
Preheat the oven to 225C/450F. For the zucchini, wash and dry them and cut off the ends. Cut each zucchini in half. Set each half upright on your cutting board and find out which way to slice it. Above the right direction is shown as you can cut straight to slice it.
This is the wrong direction to slice it, as you’d have to make curved slices.
Once you’ve found the proper direction, cut off the peel on both sides.
Then cut into four slices as shown. You will now have four slices with some peel on each side.
Arrange on a grill (so you won’t have to turn them halfway), and roast for 5-10 minutes or until the zucchini slices have dried a bit.
Take them out of the oven and brush on all sides with olive oil.
Return to the oven and roast until golden brown, about 20-30 minutes longer.
Season lightly with salt.
To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Meanwhile, heat up the milk in the microwave oven or in a separate saucepan. The milk should not boil, it should only be hot.
Add the flour when the butter foams.
Cook the flour and butter mixture (this is called a roux) for a few minutes over low heat, stirring.
Now add all the hot milk at once. (There is no need to add it slowly when you add warm milk.)
Whisk energetically to eliminate lumps.
Cook for a few minutes over medium heat until it is nice and thick.
Pour the bechamel sauce into a large bowl.
Add some freshly grated nutmeg and season with a bit of salt. Stir to incorporate.
Add most of the pesto to the bechamel sauce, reserving about two tablespoons.
Stir to mix until homogeneous.
Tast and adjust the seasoning with salt if needed.
Your lasagne alla genovese is now ready to be assembled. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Butter a 28 x 18 cm (11 x 7 inch) lasagne dish. Put a layer of pesto-bechamel on the bottom.
Cover with a layer of pasta sheets.
Cover with half the zucchini slices, spread out evenly, and sprinkle with freshly grated parmigiano.
Cover with layers of pasta sheets, bechamel-pesto, and parmigiano.
Add a third layer of pasta sheets and the remaining zucchini.
Cover with bechamel-pesto, parmigiano, fourth layer of pasta sheets, and the remaining bechamel-pesto.
Spread out the reserved pesto on top.
Cover with a thick layer of parmigiano. I also dotted with butter, but it turned out that wasn’t really necessary to get a good crust.
Bake on the oven at 200C/400F until the top is nicely browned, about 30 minutes.
Allow the lasagne to rest for about 10 minutes before serving.
Wine pairing
The classic wine to have with this is a white from Liguria, Pigato di Ponente. Wines from Liguria are however hard to find outside of Liguria due to the small production. I had a hunch that this white Côtes du Roussillon from the south of France from 80% Grenache Blanc and 20% Roussanne would work well, and it did. In fact it was an outstanding pairing, one of those occasions when both the dish and the wine taste better together than they taste separately. Pesto can sometimes clash with the acidity of white wines, but this worked wonderfully. A chardonnay from Langhe would also be great.
Stefan's Gourmet Blog 
That’s very nice … I am thinking you could make some lovely individual ones with eggplant and the lasagna sheets cut into circles!
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The eggplant would change it a bit, but that’s not a bad idea 🙂
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This looks outrageous. I will have to make it soon!
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Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a nice comment.
Would love to hear how it turns out if you do make it.
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Will do! Lasagne is one of my favourite dishes, but I’ve never tried it any other way than Bolognese – you make it look really simple too
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This is easier than bolognese as making pesto sauce is easier than making bolognese sauce. You could ‘cheat’ by buying pesto and dried lasagne sheets, and that will still be good but not nearly as good as making the whole thing from scratch. Thanks for following!
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Lasagne davvero perfette!!!!!!!!!! Grazie per averle ricreate! 🙂
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Grazie per l’ispirazione 🙂
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Felicissima che ti siano piaciute!
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Le avevo fatte per la cena di pasqua. Sono piaciute anche a mio marito e i nostri amici 🙂
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Eh si: queste lasagne sono davvero super!
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Very nice Stefan. The first knife shot is art in itself. The finished dish looks awesome.
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Thanks Conor 🙂 Wish we could put taste into HTML so we could lick the screen to taste or something 😉
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I never made these either. They are probably really creamy and light
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As a pesto lover I feel inspired to try this. Thanks
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Great, would love to hear how it turns out…
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Indeed!
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I can be there in 15 hours. Keep it warm!
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🙂
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This is a great recipe, Stefan. What do you think about adding chicken breast meat?
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It would certainly not be something that would be done in Liguria, but chicken does go well with pesto. You could slice chicken breast thinly and pound it even thinner, and then brown it quickly in very hot olive oil or clarified butter.
The Italian way would be to have the lasagne first and then have the chicken afterwards as a second course.
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I like the Italian way. Thanks for the suggestion! 😀
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Wow this looks wonderful. I can’t wait until all the fresh produce so I can make it.
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A prize for you! ♥♥♥
http://ilmaritoperfetto.com/2013/04/04/liebster-blog-award/
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Un premio per te!!!
🙂
http://ilmaritoperfetto.com/2013/04/04/blogger-simpatico/
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🙂
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Beautiful dish, and you sold Carolyn immediately. She loves zucchini…we will be making this when we harvest this summer…
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Great!
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Late to the party but I couldn’t read your post without commenting. This is a killer plate of lasagna, Stefan. I’m not at all familiar with using zucchini here but I bet it would add an interesting flavor and texture, especially after roasting. And the platter our of the oven looks spectacular! This is one great dish!
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Thanks John. This lasagne is also prepared without zucchini, but it sure does add something to it.
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Beautiful lasagna. It has inspired me. You will get a ping back tomorrow when I post about it.
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Thanks, looking forward to that
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OK, now you have Baby Lady’s attention. This is fabulous Stefan! I like this one a lot. I also think I finally have caught up on your posts. Have you ever tried it without the pasta, perhaps with alternating layers of eggplant and zucchini?
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Wow Richard, catch up you did! I do not usually receive so many comments in a single day 😉
We love pasta and eat it almost every day, so we wouldn’t try it without pasta. I think it would be pretty good though with alternating layers of eggplant and zucchini, with perhaps some sundried tomatoes thrown in as well.
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I am seriously considering using this concept for a variation on the Eggplant & Zucchini alla Parmigiana I previously did. In fact, it may be dinner tonight. 😮
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Great! 🙂 I’m doing Ravioli Svuotafrigo tonight (i.e. stuff them with anything left in the fridge, but it sounds better in Italian)
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Question for you as I am working this all out in my mind. I need roughly 12 cups of sauce to make a large batch. How many cups of sauce did you get with the 1 batch of pesto and 2 cups of milk?
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About 4 cups
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Ok, then triple the recipe it is. 🙂
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I take it you’re not going the mortar and pestle route 😉
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LOL. You are absolutely correct.
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I adore the challenge of making a completely from scratch lasagna. I will make this recipe for sure. I hope it turns out as beautiful, decadent and flavorful as yours. The combination of a white bechamel with pesto is divine – and I love the bit of nutmeg for an authentic Italian touch. Sweet, roasted zucchini and salty, scrumptious parmigiano doesn’t hurt anything one bit, either! 😉 Amazing, Stefen! I am so hungry now! 🙂
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*StefAn
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just made a similar one with local pesto I brought from Genova this weekend. Thanks for the tips!
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Thanks for visiting and taking the time to comment.
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I love the pesto-bechamel mixture… and the phrase “lots of parmesan!” This would be a fun dish for a holiday party… the green color is perfect. 🙂
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