Chefs don’t make mistakes; they invent new dishes. – Chef Elizabeth Briggs

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A few nights ago I hacked together this mouth-watering lasagna dish. The resulting tricolored, multilayered lasagna dish was met with raves from my family, as it delivered a burst of creamy fusion of flavors.

The reason I call it ‘hacked’ is because I was attempting to reproduce a similar lasagna that I had made a few months ago. My son, Omni, and husband had devoured that particular dish, and for days Omni would beg me to make it again.

As with most dishes that I create, rarely do I follow an original recipe. At best there are a few sources of inspiration, combined with having just the right ingredients in the kitchen. For a few days I searched for, and finally found my scribbled notes from that original lasagna. I’m keenly aware that unless I somehow document the process, it might be lost in ether.

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When I rather spontaneously decided to make this dish again, my notes were not sufficient enough to jog my memory. So I leaped into the process, trusting that some point (eventually) I’d recall the details that made that first dish so awesomely delicious and memorable.

Sure enough, just as I started to write this blog I had a flash-back, so to speak, of the original recipe’s Spicy Shaka spark! Below is a recipe of the hacked version, along with my ‘ah-ha’ moment side notes where I share details from my original version.

This version of the recipe is actually relatively simple compared to my original creation, so I think you’ll be able easily reproduce this savory delight!

Ingredients

• 1 tbs. EVOO or avocado oil
• 1-3 tbs sea salt butter (I prefer more butter to sauté the puree)
• 1 small lemon
• 1 medium zucchini sliced into strips
• 1½ cups baby spinach
• 1 cup cut thin stemmed asparagus
• 3-5 tbs marinated artichoke hearts finely diced (jar from Trader Joes)
• 2 medium shallots (or small white onion) finely sliced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped (can’t have enough garlic)
• 1½ cup shredded soft fontina cheese (found at Trader Joe’s)
• 1 8oz fresh mozzarella cheese (found at Trader Joe’s)
  • Note: I enjoy having the slices of this cheese as one of the middle layers.
• 4oz shredded parmesan cheese
• 1 tbs white wine vinegar
• 8-10oz marinara sauce (I prefer Rao’s brand)
• 1 15oz jar of Roa’s Roasted Garlic Alfredo sauce
  • Ah-ha moment: I learned the hard way last time that these lasagna shells require a lot of liquid to cook properly. So it was actually an afterthought when in my original recipe I poured the remaining of the jar of Alfredo and Marinara sauces as my top layer, along with extra parmesan cheese.
• 2-3 tbs green pesto (I used Genova Pesto)
  • Ah-ha moment: In my original recipe I used my homemade frozen Kale Almond Pesto (I’ll share that recipe soon. Trust me, its delicious even if you think you don’t like kale!). I prefer my version over the store brand, but the Trader Joe’s pesto is pretty decent.
• 6 uncooked lasagna shells (I love the ‘Explore Cuisine’ brand’s Organic Green Lentil Lasagne shells as they are firm and flavorful.)

The Process…

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

There are loosely 3 parts to this process as explained below.

• Part 1: Slicing, Shredding, Cutting and Dicing…
  • Slice the zucchini as thin as possible, but don’t fret it if you made the slices a bit thick.
  • Thinly slice the shallots or onion.
  • Slice the mozzarella cheese into layers.
  • Shred the fontina cheese.
  • Cut the asparagus into small pieces
  • Finely dice the marinated artichoke hearts, and garlic.
• Part 2: Creating the artichoke & asparagus sauté
  • Using the butter and oil sauté the shallots, garlic, along with the asparagus. Add the white wine vinegar, fresh squeezed lemon juice, and pesto to this sauce mix.
    • Ah-ha moment: In my original dish I had created a puree that included my homemade Kale Almond Pesto (defrosted), the diced artichokes, garlic, spinach, lemon juice, and roasted almonds. I had included this puree within some layers, and the asparagus mix within other layers.
• Part 3: Creating the layers
  • Start with greasing the bottom part of your pan to prevent the content from burning.
  • Next, just have fun!
    • At this point feel free to pick the order in which you layer the different elements (sauces, veggies, puree, and cheeses). I personally prefer to start the layers with sauce, followed by shells, and complete the top layer with the shells, topping that with sauce and parmesan cheese.
• Now Bake!
  • Cover the lasagna pan with aluminum foil, tented slightly so it doesn’t touch the noodles or sauce. Bake at 375°F for 45 minutes. Uncover in the last 10 minutes if you’d like more of a crusty top or edges.

Enjoy with a nice crusty bread!

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