I had a similar dish for lunch in Italy last month, I thought it was nice, tame, tasty, but I thought I could make it better.  I think I did this evening, what can still improve it would be home grown zucchini, which I intend to cook with next summer.

I grated 2 courgettes, pan fried them with half a red onion, half a tbsp of chili flakes, seasoned with some stock, salt and pepper and a touch of tomato puree.  Made bechamel usual way and layered the dish with the courgettes, topped with grated parmesan and baked for about 25 minutes in 180 degrees. We both liked it a lot, a glass of Romanian pinot noir sealed the deal.