What color is your Lasagna?

Sometimes an assortment of vegetables cooked together can taste like yesterday's garbage, which is why I approached this Vegetarian Lasagna with caution. My kids are second only to Garfield when it comes to loving Lasagna; they begged for me not to destroy their favorite food by adding vegetables, but I was determined!
I tasted this version of veg Lasagna for the first time in Paris in a street side cafe and enjoyed it enough to try and reproduce it at home. It wasn't the stereo- typical Italian lasagna but a more stylized version with a definite Mediterranean flair. Simplistic and back to basic for the most part - no heavy meat sauces needed, it is in my opinion, a throwback to simpler times. I took the liberty of adding  in a couple of Med spices to give it authenticity. Za'atar ( a combination of herbs and sesame seed) and Sumac (a powdered spice that adds tartness) are not spices I use with regularity, but they add a great deal of flavor to this otherwise understated dish.

Surprisingly my kids liked it as much as I did. They ate silently, which is always a good sign and then they asked for seconds. I can barely believe it - they actually asked for more vegetables....

My recipe for Mediterranean Vegetarian Lasagna:
1 large eggplant sliced into 1/2 inch circles
2 zucchini sliced on the diagonal into 1/2 inch slices
2 large tomatoes
1 box no-cook lasagna or cooked lasagna sheets
1 jar of Marinara
1 tsp za'atar
1-2 tsp sumac
salt and pepper
olive oil for drizzling
1 cup Bechamel sauce
1 cup grated Italian cheese (Parmesan, Romano, Asiago)

1. Set the oven on broil. Brush the eggplant and zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on sheet trays and cook till golden on both sides. Dust with sumac and za'atar and set aside.
2. Heat the bottled Marinara and doctor it if you will, by adding extra garlic, herbs and a pinch of sugar.
3. Make a simple bechamel by cooking flour in butter and adding milk. Add the cheese to the sauce.
4. Grease a large oven proof dish and make layers of the pasta sheets, a combination of tomato slices, zucchini and eggplant and pouring over with the marinara.
5. Finish with a layer of pasta covered with marinara and the cheese sauce and bake at 350 degrees F for about a half hour or until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden.