Vegetarian Lasagna with Swiss Chard

Ingredients

• 2.5 kg Swiss chard
• Salt
• 2 onions
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 50 g grated Emmental cheese
• Pepper
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 500 g passata
• 1 tsp whole cane sugar
• 0.5 tsp chili powder
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp wheat flour type 1050
• 250 ml milk (1.5% fat)
• a pinch vanilla powder
• 100 g whole grain lasagna sheets (5 pieces)

Instructions

1. 1.

   Clean and wash the Swiss chard. Trim the stems. Slice the green parts into fine strips. Cut the stems into 4 cm long pieces and blanch them in boiling salted water for 6 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. 2.

   Peel and finely chop the onions. Heat 2 tbsp oil in a pan and sauté the chard greens with half of the onions for about 2 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the cheese, then season with salt and pepper.

3. 3.

   For the tomato sauce, peel and finely chop the garlic. In a pot, heat 1 tbsp oil and sauté the remaining onion with the garlic. Add passata, sugar, and chili powder. Simmer over medium heat for about 10 minutes.

4. 4.

   Melt butter in a pot over medium heat. Sprinkle flour over it and cook briefly. Gradually whisk in milk until smooth, bring to a boil. Let simmer for 3–5 minutes, then remove from heat and season with salt, pepper, and vanilla powder.

5. 5.

   Spread the Swiss chard and stems on the bottom of a baking dish. Arrange lasagna sheets like roof tiles so that the chard is well covered. Spread tomato sauce over them and spoon béchamel sauce in tablespoonfuls on top.

6. 6.

   Bake the vegetarian lasagna in a preheated oven at 200°C (180°C fan, gas level 3) for about 30 minutes. Test doneness by inserting a sharp knife through the noodles; if needed, bake an additional 5–10 minutes.