makes 6-8 servings
Prep Time
? minutes
Cook Time
? minutes
Total Time
? minutes
A comforting dish hailing from the French Alps, this spinach and béchamel lasagna is wittily named for the wild spinach originally used in this recipe. The spinach leaves are ready to be picked when they're the size and shape of donkey ears. These big leafy greens get stirred into a milky béchamel sauce, layered between crêpes, topped generously with hard mountain cheese such as Gruyère or Tomme and bake to perfection. The epitome of mountain cooking!
Now, in modern versions of this recipe, lasagna sheets often replace the crêpes, which I find convenient when I don't have time to make a batch of crêpes. The comforting effect of this dish remains the same: it's utterly tender and creamy, with crackling cheesy top.
2 tbsp (30 g) unsalted butter, divided
12 cups (about 360 g) torn, raw spinach leaves
12 crêpes or six large sheets of lasagna, cooked
1 cup (100 g) grated hard cheese (such as Gruyère), divided
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
For the Béchamel Sauce
1/3 cup (80 g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (63 g) all-purpose flour
1-3/4 cups (420 ml) 2% or whole milk
1/3 cup (33 g) grated hard cheese (such as Gruyère)
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
Melt 1 tablespoon (15 g) of butter in a large pan over medium heat. Sauté the spinach for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked. Set aside. When cool enough to handle, squeeze out most of the excess moisture from the spinach.
To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon until combined. Switch to a whisk, and allow the butter and flour mixture to cook for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking continuously to avoid lumps and until the consistency is creamy, about 1 minute. Whisk in the cheese until melted, about 1 minute. Then add the nutmeg, ground pepper and salt. Add the béchamel sauce to the spinach, and stir.
Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C, or gas Mark 4), with a rack in the middle.
Grease a 14x9-inch (35x23-cm) rectangular baking sheet with 1 tablespoon (15 g) of butter. Lay 4 crêpes or 2 large lasagna sheets on the bottom. Cover with one-third of the béchamel-and-spinach mixture and 1/3 cup (33 g) of grated cheese. Repeat this step twice to create three layers, with the last 1/3 cup (33 g) of cheese on top. Sprinkle with ground pepper.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown on the edges.
Rustic French Cooking Made Easy, by Audrey Le Goff