Asparagus Potato Lasagne

A neat trick to freezing lasagne without it drying out is to freeze a small amount of liquid like stock or wine in ice cubes and put one at each corner of the pan so that as it thaws and cooks, there's a bit of a steam room effect keeping the noodles and filling nice and moist.

Asparagus Potato Lasagne
Makes 1 13x9 pan

1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
6 cups milk
1/2 tsp dillweed
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 lbs asparagus, trimmed
4 large Yukon Gold or other yellow-fleshed potatoes (about 2 lbs)
1 lb. lasagne
2 cups mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesan
1/2 cup white wine, chicken stock, or vermouth, frozen in 4 ice cubes

Melt butter and whisk in flour.  Cook 1 minute.  Slowly whisk in milk until smooth.   Raise heat to medium-high.  When bubbles appear, reduce heat to medium and simmer 5-10 minutes until thickened.  Season with dill, salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add whole potatoes and boil 15 minutes.  Add asparagus and continue to cook 5 minutes.  Drain.  Separate asparagus and potatoes.  Allow potatoes to cook slightly before slicing into 1/4"-1/2" thick slices.

To build lasagne, combine cheeses in a bowl.  Put 1 cup of white sauce in bottom of 13x9 pan.  Add a layer of noodles.  Add another cup of sauce, making sure to cover all the noodles.  Place half the potato slices in an even layer, and top with half the asparagus.  Add 1/3 of the cheese.  Add another layer of noodles, 1 cup sauce, the remaining potato slices, the remaining asparagus and 1/3 of the cheese.  Add a final layer of noodles and completely cover with the remaining white sauce.  Sprinkle remaining cheese on top and tuck 1 wine/stock cube into each corner before freezing.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and foil.

To cook, thaw lasagne and bake at 350F for 1 hour or until heated through. Pin It