Three Cheese Vegetable Lasagna

Two distinct fillings make this lasagna twice as interesting as the usual one-note version.

One layer features creamy ricotta with a pinch of nutmeg and mixed vegetables. The other packs spinach into a portion of the béchamel sauce for an earthy, green contrast.

Stack them between noodles with generous handfuls of mozzarella and Parmesan, and you get a lasagna with real depth in every bite.

The béchamel is built from butter, flour, onion, and chicken broth enriched with the liquid from the canned vegetables, so nothing goes to waste and everything ties together.

Kitchen Tips

• Use the reserved vegetable liquid. It adds flavor to the sauce and keeps it from being too thick. Don’t pour it down the drain.
• Squeeze the spinach dry. Excess water from cooked spinach will make the filling watery and the layers soggy. Wring it out in a clean towel until nothing drips.
• Cold water bath for noodles. Cooked lasagna noodles stick together fast. Keep them in cold water and pull them out one at a time as you layer.
• Let it rest 10 minutes before cutting. A just-from-the-oven lasagna is a molten mess. A short rest lets the layers firm up for clean, stackable slices.