Zucchini and mortadella lasagna. Italy on the table but in a different way

You will fall in love with this zucchini lasagna because it has some of my favorite ingredients and they also go together very well.

The first time I tried it was last year in Verona when Javi lived there and we had it in a very similar restaurant in the city. The union of mortadella and bechamel seemed like a dream to me. That time, the pesto was distributed between the layers, but when I returned, part of the pesto fell into the bechamel and I discovered how delicious the sauce is like that. In the end it is a classic bechamel, only when it is ready, we add the pesto.

But the most important thing in this recipe is that the zucchini loses its water so that the lasagna is compact and you do not find extra liquid in the béchamel when the lasagna comes out of the oven, so you have to cook it well although making sure that it continues to maintain its shape and does not fall apart.

And now we move on to the lasagna. I hope you like it as much as we do.

Ingredients

Pair the filling

1 package lasagna sheets
60 ml extra virgin olive oil
3 courgettes
3 cloves of garlic sliced
freshly ground black pepper
side
250 g Bolonia mortadella
200 g provolone cheese
60 g of pistachios
80 g shredded mozzarella
60 g Grana Padano

For pesto

1 clove of garlic
100 g of Grana Padano
70 g walnuts
100 g fresh basil leaves
150 ml extra virgin olive oil
a little water (optional)

For the bechamel

70g butter
60 g flour
nutmeg
Salt
black pepper
1 l of milk

Directions

For the pesto, in a food processor, grind all the pesto ingredients until you obtain a smooth dough and set aside.

We wash the zucchini, cut the ends and, without peeling them, slice them with the help of a mandoline. If we do not have a mandolin, we can cut them with a knife into thin slices but it is much easier with a mandoline.

In a frying pan, we heat the oil. We add the sliced garlic cloves and brown them. Then add the zucchini, salt and black pepper and sauté until they are cooked and have lost the water but maintaining their round shape.

For the bechamel, heat the oil and butter in a saucepan and brown the flour over low heat for a couple of minutes. This is essential for it to be creamy and with good flavor.

We add the milk little by little, stirring well each time. So that lumps do not come out, it is very important that the milk is not cold and is between warm and hot. When the bechamel has thickened and is creamy, add the spices and bring to a boil. Now we add the pesto and mix well, tasting each time until we like the flavor. I like it with a lot of pesto but you may not want to add it all, so it is better to try adding it little by little.

So that the pasta sheets cook evenly and do not overcook, it is best to cook them in plenty of water for half the time indicated by the manufacturer, and then cool them in cold water to leave them al dente, that is, flexible but still hard. In this way, they will finish cooking in the oven and will be perfect.

While they are cooking, we prepare a bowl with cold water (I put ice in it) and as they are ready, we transfer them to the bowl of cold water. This is how we cut the cooking and make sure that they do not overcook. Once cool, we put them on a clean cloth and dry them with another cloth.

We preheat the oven to 210ºC with hot air.

In a bowl we put a layer of bechamel, place a layer of pasta sheets on top. On top we put a layer of zucchini, then a layer of bechamel and on top of it a layer of mortadella. We cover with grated provolone cheese and pistachios. We put another layer of pasta sheets on top and repeat the entire process three more times.

We cover with the rest of the bechamel. We add the rest of the provolone and cover with grated Grana Padano cheese and a little grated mozarella.

Bake for 20 minutes until we see the bechamel bubbling and the cheese is golden. Wait a few minutes before serving and enjoy!

Tips and Tricks

It freezes very well
You can replace the mortadella with another sausage, although the flavor will change completely.
Difficulty: easy
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Servings: 8