Recipe: Corn and Poblano Lasagna (with garlic-cream sauce)

CORN AND POBLANO LASAGNA
"This recipe comes from my trusted right-hand gal, Valeria "Vale" Linss. She heads my culinary team, coming up with these wonderful ideas to try - and this Mexican lasagna has to be one of my favorites. Vale studied at some fancy Italian cooking school, where she made pasta from scratch every day and mastered the perfect gnocchi. And yet for this easy recipe, she agrees that no-boil lasagna noodles are the way to go."



FOR THE CORN MIXTURE:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use
3 garlic cloves, minced, divided use
2 cups fresh corn kernels (from about 2 ears) or thawed frozen
1 1/2 cups heavy (whipping) cream
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
FOR THE POBLANO MIXTURE:
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion
1 large zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
3 poblano chiles, charred and peeled, stemmed, seeded, and cut into 1-inch strips
FOR THE LASAGNA:
12 (7x3-inch) no-boil lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded Oaxaca cheese or mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

TO PREPARE THE CORN MIXTURE:
Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add two-thirds of the garlic and saute for 1 minute. Mix in the corn and saute for 5 minutes.

Stir in the cream and thyme. Cook over medium-low heat for 5 minutes for the flavors to incorporate. Turn off the heat and let cool slightly.

Transfer to a blender and puree until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

TO PREPARE THE POBLANO MIXTURE:
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and saute until translucent, 5 minutes. Add the remaining garlic and cook for 1 minute. Mix in the zucchini and poblano strips, and cook for 5 minutes to blend the flavors. Season with salt and pepper.

TO PREPARE THE LASAGNA:
Spread about one-fourth of the corn mixture over the bottom of an 11x8-inch baking dish. Cover with a layer of 3 lasagna sheets. Spread one-fourth of the poblano mixture and one-fourth of the cheese over the pasta. Repeat the layering three more times.

Bake until browned and the pasta is cooked, 50 minutes. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 6-8 servings
Used by permission to Recipelink.com from Clarkson Potter
Adapted from source: Mexican Made Easy by Marcela Valladolid