GRATIN OF BROKEN LASAGNE WITH ONIONS AND CHEESE

I love big noodles, like papardelle or lasagne, especially the home-made ones that have rough, irregular shapes. This gratin can be made with fresh pasta, rolled out thinly and torn, or with good commercial lasagne, broken into pieces.

It's a delicious pasta and cheese dish, but not an overly rich one. The saut ed onions provide a great foil for the cheese, and by using a well-aged cheese, tangy and full of flavor, I can use less and still deliver the satisfying kind of pasta dish we all long for on chilly evenings.

3 cups nonfat milk
1/2 tsp. whole thyme
1 bay leaf
1 Tbs. butter, + 1 tsp. for the gratin dish
2 Tbs. white flour
1 lb. spinach
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 lbs. sweet yellow onions
2 Tbs. olive oil
4 oz. sharp, aged cheddar, grated
1 oz. Parmesan, grated
1 lb. tomatoes
1 lb. dried lasagne noodles, or 1 1/2 lbs. fresh

Meanwhile, melt the tablespoon of butter in a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan and stir the flour into it. You will have a rather dry, crumbly paste, because this is very little butter, but just keep pressing it against the bottom of the saucepan with the back of a spooon as you gently heat it for a few minutes, until it begins to color. Then add the hot milk, whisking it in briskly. Keep whisking over medium heat until the milk thickens.

Wash the spinach. In a non-stick pan or wok, steam it in the water that clings to the leaves until it is wilted and the excess liquid evaporates. Salt it lightly, and when it has cooled enough to handle, chop it finely. Stir the spinach into the bechamel sauce, and season the sauce with salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.

Peel the onions and slice them into 1/2" wedges. Heat five teaspoons olive oil in a large, non-stick saut pan and saut the onions, turning them frequently, until they are nicely browned - about 20-25 minutes.

Peel and seed the tomatoes, and cut them into large pieces. Toss them with the remaining teaspoon of olive oil, and a bit of salt and pepper.

Break the lasagne into pieces - the size and shape is up to you. Boil the noodles in a large pot of salted water until they are al dente, then drain. Add the cooked noodles to the saut ed onions, and mix gently but thoroughly. Pour in the b chamel sauce with spinach. Combine the grated cheeses and add all but 3 tablespoons to the noodles and sauce, then mix again.

Pour the noodles into a buttered oval gratin dish. Arrange the tomato pieces here and there over the noodles, making the dish look pretty, and finish by sprinkling the remaining cheese over everything.

Bake the gratin for 45 minutes at 350

Serves six to eight.