Grilled Summer Veggie Lasagna Adventure

We couldn’t find the Japanese eggplant. I don’t know if Pacific Ocean Market was out or if they weren’t in season, but we’d driven too far to this store to come away empty-handed.

Reading Kenji’s summer vegetable lasagna recipe made me want to prepare it straight away, and he specifically called for Japanese eggplant. Guillaume, who’s not the biggest eggplant fan to start, pointed to a package of round dark purple softball-sized vegetables labeled Indian eggplant. “How about these?” he suggested.

It was the discovery that changed everything.

Indian eggplant is a variety that’s also known as baby eggplant, according to The Kitchn. When cooked, this kind doesn’t get as mushy as the familiar Italian eggplant you’d get from a grocery store or farmer’s market. They also seem slightly less bitter to me.

The reason I was so drawn to Kenji’s recipe on Serious Eats was that it eschewed grainy ricotta for béchamel, and sounded like a good way to use up a late summer vegetable bounty. Melted mozzarella was tempting, too.

However, Kenji’s instructions say to brown the veggies in batches on the stovetop. Why would we do that when we have a trusty little grill? He also makes the white sauce preparation seem fast and easy. It is not. Once, while making béchamel for moussaka in NYC, I called my mom in tears because the consistency hadn’t changed after 35 minutes of constant whisking. She advised me to turn up the heat slightly and be patient. That worked. Finally.

Since 2015, we’ve made this lasagna a number of times, always using Indian eggplant, grilling the vegetables, and cutting the recipe size in half. It’s perfect for the end of summer, when the nights are finally getting cooler and running the oven for about an hour isn’t torture.

Several Serious Eats commenters said their lasagna was bland. My guess is that they under-salted at least one of the components. Taste as you go. A little hot sauce mixed into the tomatoes won’t hurt anything, either.

A note about doubling the recipe: Consider increasing the flour and butter for the white sauce to 4 or 5 tablespoons apiece. This should speed up the thickening process slightly, which helps when whisking an entire quart of whole milk in a large pan.

Indian eggplant can be found at most Asian grocery stores. Fairy tale eggplant, Japanese eggplant, or a different small heirloom variety from the farmer’s market probably works fine. You might need to cut oblong ones lengthwise for grilling. Or you can omit the eggplant and add more of the other veggies. Up to you.

Grilled Summer Vegetable Lasagna

Makes 4 generous servings

Extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
1 medium zucchini
1 medium summer squash
Indian eggplant, about ⅓ lb.
Half a 9-oz. box of no-boil lasagna noodles (7 or 8 pieces)
1½ Tbsp. salted butter
1½ Tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 pint (2 C.) whole milk
1 oz. Parmigiano-Reggiano
16 oz. crushed tomatoes, either homemade or canned (a 14.5-oz. can works fine)
6 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese
Fresh basil leaves

Rinse the vegetables, trim the ends off, and cut each one into thin discs, about a half-inch wide. Place the discs in a large mixing bowl, drizzle with olive oil, and mix them with your hands to coat evenly.

Set the grill to high heat. Put the vegetables in an even layer on the grill using tongs to avoid overlap. Sprinkle salt generously over the top. Grill for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until nicely grilled. Salt the other side after flipping them over. Put grilled vegetables back in the bowl, laying them flat in layers. Set aside to cool.

Grate the cheese into a small bowl, ideally with a microplane. Put the crushed tomatoes in a bowl or measuring glass and season to taste with salt.

Place the lasagna noodles in an 8x8x2-inch casserole dish and cover with hot water. Let them soak while you prepare the white sauce, agitating them every few minutes to prevent sticking, about 20 minutes. It’s OK to let them continue soaking if preparing the sauce takes longer.

Heat the butter in a medium saucepan over medium until melted. Add the flour and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring butter and flour with a whisk until pale golden blond, about 1 minute. Whisking constantly, slowly drizzle in the milk.

Continue to cook, whisking frequently, until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Be patient. This could take 20 to 40 minutes, depending on your stovetop, pan, and other factors. Your hand might cramp from whisking. You might start cursing me, cursing Kenji, cursing whoever came up with béchamel sauce. Just keep going. The sauce should bubble rapidly while you’re whisking — be careful not to burn it, though. Once done, the sauce will be thick, glossy, and spoonable.

Remove the thick sauce from the heat and add the grated cheese. Whisk until smooth. Season to taste with salt. You’ll know it’s salty enough when you consider eating a spoonful. Leave the whisk in the pan.

Preheat oven to 375°F with rack in center position. Transfer the noodles to a clean kitchen towel or layer with paper towels to dry them. Dry the casserole dish carefully and brush it with olive oil. Spread a very thin layer of crushed tomatoes on the bottom of the baking dish.

Layer with 2 lasagna noodle sheets. Top with a quarter of the grilled vegetables. Spoon on a very thin layer of crushed tomatoes, about a fifth. (If a skin formed on the sauce in the pan, whisk to re-incorporate.) Dab on several spoonfuls of the white sauce, about a fifth. Leave the blobs as they are. Repeat the layers three more times, leaving enough tomatoes and sauce for the top.

If you have an odd number of noodles, place one in the middle of the dish in a center layer.

Place the final lasagna noodles on top and spread with remaining crushed tomatoes and add dabs of the remaining white sauce. I won’t tell anyone if you clean out the saucepan with your finger. Tear the mozzarella cheese into chunks and place them evenly over the surface. Nobody needs to know if you help yourself to another snack. The ball was probably 8 ounces anyway. Add the basil leaves. Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil.

Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and place it in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, and then uncover. Put the used aluminum foil over a baking sheet and place that on the rack underneath to catch any overflow.

Put the dish back in the oven and continue baking until lightly browned on top, about 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven, let rest 10 minutes, slice into four generous pieces, and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.