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  3. Recipe Makeover: Lighter Vegetable Lasagna

Recipe Makeover: Lighter Vegetable Lasagna

By Sidney Fry, MS, RD February 09, 2016
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Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor
A family-friendly comfort dinner with a sauce so good you'll want to eat it by the spoonful. Our only regret? Not having enough room in the pan for another layer. 
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Classic Yet Healthy

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey
View Recipe: Vegetable Lasagna with Butternut Béchamel

No amount of eggplant, squash, or tomato can lighten the hefty 1½ pounds of béchamel sauce, a butter-and-milk-based sauce, that blanket the buttery noodles of a vegetable lasagna, which packs over 700 calories and 22g sat fat into just one slice. The challenge: Re-create this dish to highlight the vegetables but still keep plenty of creamy, cheesy, layered goodness.

For a lighter take on this classic, we substitute hearty butternut squash for butter, which becomes velvety and creamy when blended with garlic and milk. Whole-wheat noodles serve as a sturdy bed for sautéed greens and mushrooms. Our saucy lasagna packs more than 2 cups of vegetables into each slice, is overflowing with melty cheese, and has half the calories of the original.

Classic
730 calories
22.3 grams sat fat 
1057 milligrams​ sodium

Makeover
363 calories
6.3 grams sat fat
584 milligrams sodium

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Tip#1: The Vegetables

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey

In addition to the 3 cups of squash "hiding" in our sauce, we pack a cup of buttery Swiss chard and meaty mushrooms into each slice.

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Tip #2: The Béchamel

Credit: Photo: Ditte Isager

Creamy, silky butternut squash replaces the classic butter-, flour-, and milk-based béchamel to save 90 calories and 6g sat fat per serving.

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Tip #3: The Pasta

Credit: Photo: Jennifer Causey

Lasagna needs a strong noodle to separate layers. Whole-grain not only does it best but also adds an extra 2.5g fiber to each slice. We love Bionaturae for its neutral profile and its sturdy frame for saucy layers.

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Tip #4: The Cheeses

Credit: Photo: Randy Mayor

Gruyère and melty mozzarella balance the sweet butternut sauce, ricotta lightens between layers, and Parm adds a salty pop on top, saving 149 calories and 6.4g sat fat per slice—a four-cheese punch that trims a whole pound off the original.

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By Sidney Fry, MS, RD

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    1 of 5 Classic Yet Healthy
    2 of 5 Tip#1: The Vegetables
    3 of 5 Tip #2: The Béchamel
    4 of 5 Tip #3: The Pasta
    5 of 5 Tip #4: The Cheeses

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