Making the meat & veggie sauce

1. Heat onion and garlic in olive oil for 3-4 minutes until soft, but not browned.
2. Add chopped veggies to pan. (You may not need to add all of them. Save the leftovers for another recipe. Use about 4 cups of veggies.) Cook until soft, then transfer to a mixing bowl.
3. Add beef to the pan and cook until browned. Drain.
4. Add tomatoes to meat. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper (I used 2-3 large pinches of each, or about 1/2 tsp).
5. Simmer on low uncovered so the tomatoes are just bubbling gently (I had it on medium heat). The original recipe recommends simmering tomatoes for 45 minutes, but I started it and then left it while I made the béchamel sauce, and let it go until I was finished making the lasagna, so maybe 20-25 minutes total.
   {I made the noodles first, rather than after the sauce, but I recommend cooking the noodles after the sauces so they don’t dry out and stick together on the plate.}
6. Towards the end, add the vegetables back into the pan with the meat and tomatoes.

Making the béchamel sauce

1. Melt butter in a medium saucepan. Add salt and pepper to taste (I used 2 pinches of each, between 1/4 and 1/2 tsp).
2. Whisk in flour and stir until the butter fully absorbs the flour.
3. Slowly stir in warmed milk 1/4 cup at a time, whisking to keep the sauce smooth. After each addition, let the sauce begin to bubble and thicken briefly, then add more. (If you pour in cold milk, your sauce may become lumpy so be sure to heat the milk before adding to the sauce.)
4. When all of the flour has been added, continue to whisk over low heat for about 3-5 minutes until thickened. Be careful, the bottom will burn if the heat is too high.
5. Set aside while you cook the noodles.

Preparing the lasagna noodles

1. Bring 3 quarts of water, with salt (1/2 tsp or two large pinches), to boil in a large pot or skillet.
2. Cook 4-6 noodles at a time for 4 minutes, stirring gently to keep them from sticking together.
3. Lift out one noodle at at time with a slotted spoon and place them on a clean, dry plate or kitchen towel.
4. Repeat until all of the noodles are cooked.

Assembling the lasagna

1. Grease a 9″ x 13″ inch pan.
2. Add 1-2 ladles of meat and veggie sauce to lightly cover the entire bottom of the pan.
3. Place a layer of noodles over the sauce, covering the pan.
4. Spread ¼ cup of béchamel sauce over the noodles.
5. Sprinkle 1 oz of cheese over the noodles and sauce.
6. Repeat each step until you have used all of the ingredients. Try to keep in mind that each row should have an equal amount of filling. (I ended up with three rows of noodles, with the last layer on the top, which turned out well.)

Baking and Serving

1. Cover the pan with aluminum foil.
2. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375°F for 4o minutes.
3. Let cool for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.
4. Feast!