Beet Green Lasagna

Don’t toss those tops! Cook your beet greens into this tasty lasagna. With lasagna there’s room for creativity! Find a béchamel sauce below, but try layering a pesto sauce or a tomato sauce. This is a recipe with room to make it your own.

A big bunch of beet greens
Garlic to taste
Olive oil
About 1/2 pound lasagna noodles—fresh or dried, cooked, rinsed with cold water and placed on parchment paper so they don’t stick
8 ounces Fontina cheese, coarsely grated
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese
1 recipe béchamel sauce (see below)
Salt and pepper to taste

Wash beet greens and remove from water. Do not spin dry.

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat and add minced garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Do not let it brown. Add beet greens and cook until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan, drain, and when cool, squeeze out any extra liquid.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Spread a few tablespoons of the béchamel sauce on the bottom of a 9x13x3 inch pan. Cover with a layer of the lasagna noodles. Trim them to fit. Spread half of the beet greens over the pasta. Pour 1/3 of the béchamel sauce over the greens and spread so they are covered. Top with grated Fontina and Parmesan. Repeat with another layer of noodles, greens, and cheese. Finish the lasagna with another layer of pasta, the remaining béchamel and cheeses.

Cover the dish with aluminum foil. (You can prepare the dish up to this point and leave in the refrigerator up to a day. Allow to come to room temperature before baking.) Bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 10 minutes more or until cheese is just beginning to color.

Allow to stand about 10-15 minutes before serving.

Béchamel Sauce

2 cups milk
1 garlic clove
4 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoon all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly grated nutmeg and pepper to taste

Place milk and garlic in a small pan or 2-cup microwave safe dish. Heat until just beginning to boil.

Meanwhile, melt the butter over low heat in a heavy saucepan with 4-6 cups capacity.

When the butter is melted, add all the flour stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Let the flour and butter bubble for 2 minutes without ceasing to stir. Do not let the flour become colored.

Turn off the heat and add the milk in a little at a time. When all of the milk has been added, turn the heat back on, add the salt and nutmeg, pepper, etc. and cook-stir until it is as thick as you’d like.