It is nothing short of phenomenal that I’ve secured a source of fresh, raw goat milk from a neighbor, weekly. Such deliciousness is typically scouted and claimed by serious cheese-makers and chefs, yet these foodie trends have been slower to arrive in our little rural patch of Idaho. I’ll take it.
What’s a gal to do with a gallon of goat milk every week? Make cheese, of course. Or, as full refrigerator shelves would preclude, make goat cheese lasagna. With abundant ricotta, mozarella, and fresh chevre (the three easiest cheeses to begin one’s repertoire with goat cheese creating), I was completely lined out for a big dish of layered pasta and goodies. The garden added further color to such dominating white; several stray spinach plants allowed to grow haphazardly yielded a pound of fresh green leaves to layer within the goat. First of the season basil pesto and summer squashes round out interior components.
If you don’t have access to local, raw milk, or (horror of all horrors) no interest in making cheese, then go to your farmers market or grocery and select some cheeses to suit your tastes. But do try to use whole milk for the bechamel sauce; this is lasagna, not a diet plan. Here’s what you’ll need:
1 lb. lasagna noodles (homemade: 1 cup semolina, 1 cup flour, 3 eggs, 1 Tbs olive oil, dash salt); 20 oz. spinach, chopped well; 1 cup ricotta cheese; 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese; 1/2 cup pesto; 11 oz goat cheese; 2 small zucchini sliced; 1 1/2 cup bechamel sauce (3 Tbs. sweet butter, 4 Tbs flour, 2 cups milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg)
Cook noodles (or roll out fresh ones and don’t cook). Mix ricotta with 2 Tbs parmesan. Season with salt and pepper. Mix pesto with goat cheese. Blanch zucchini. Make Bechamel: melt butter in heavy saucepan. Sprinkle in flour and stir continuously about 5 minutes. Don’t brown. Bring milk to a boil, remove butter mix from heat and pour in milk at once. As mix boils and bubbles, stir vigorously with whisk. When bubbling stops, return to medium heat and bring to boil stirring for several minutes till thickened. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
Spread 1/3 bechamel over bottom of 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Arrange 1/3 pasta over this. Spread all of ricotta over this, then sprinkle half the chopped spinach on top of this. Scatter 1/2 the zucchini on top of this. Add another layer of pasta, spread with half the remaining bechamel and all of the goat cheese/pesto mix. Sprinkle on remaining chopped spinach, and remaining zucchini. Do another layer of pasta, and spread remaining bechamel on top of this. Sprinkle with remaining parmesan, and some more goat cheese if you’d like.
Bake at 375 degrees F for about 15 minutes, until bubbling and lightly browned. Note: you can also add sauteed onions to the zucchini layers. Salt should be pretty good, especially with the salty pesto and parmesan components. Bon appetit!
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