Our recipe expert Mandy Applegate talks you through her tasty vegetarian lasagne.
It takes just 25 minutes to prep and an hour to cook.
Ingredients
For the cheese sauce add a litre of milk; 8 tablespoons of plain flour,100 g butter, 200 g cheddar cheese, 1 tsp ground nutmeg, salt and pepper to season, lasagne vegetable sauce, 1 tsp fresh thyme, 1 tsp fresh oregano, 2 bay leaves, salt and pepper to season, 2 tbsp olive oil, 2 cloves of garlic, 1 large carrot, 1 stick of celery, 1 large onion, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 2 tbsp tomato ketchup, ½ glass of red wine, 400 g vegetarian mince, 250 g mushrooms, 1 red pepper, 1 yellow pepper, ½ courgette, 400 g passata sauce, 400 g canned tomatoes, 75 g grated cheese, 15 pasta sheets.
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 180°C
For the vegetable sauce first, prepare your vegetables, remove the leaves from your thyme and oregano and finely chop them peel, and dice your carrot. Wash and chop your celery into chunks. Peel and dice your onion.
Wash and slice your mushrooms and dice your peppers, wash and dice your courgette.
Peel your garlic cloves and grate your cheddar cheese.
Now it’s time to cook! Heat the olive oil in the large pan or wok and add your onions and cook for 3-4 minutes until they have softened.
Crush your garlic and stir in for 30 seconds. Now add your vegetarian mince and mix it in with the onions and garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add your red wine, bay leaf, chopped oregano, and thyme and stir for 2 minutes. Now add your carrots and cook for 1 minute. Next, you need to add your courgette and peppers and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring occasionally as they cook. Add your mushrooms in, stir and cook for 2 minutes. Now you need to add your passata and canned tomatoes, give it a good stir to mix everything in. You should see a beautiful rich red sauce, a sea of colour with the peppers, courgettes, and mushrooms shining through.
Add in your tomato puree and ketchup and give it a good stir, cook it for a further 10 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally – season with salt and pepper to suit your taste.For the cheese sauce, first, grate your cheese and set aside, pour your milk into a large non-stick saucepan, with the heat off at the moment, cube your butter and add it in along with your plain flour – now turn the heat on to medium and begin whisking, a gentle consistent speed keep on whisking as the butter melts into the milk and it begins to boil, the flour will then disappear and the sauce will thicken – keep whisking, now add in your nutmeg, salt and pepper to season. Now whisk for approximately 2 more minutes, the sauce will begin to bubble then it’s time to add your grated cheese and stir this in until it has all melted, then set aside.
Build your lasagne
Get your oven-proof dish. Put a thin layer of vegetable sauce on the bottom, making sure you cover the bottom fully. Then place a layer of pasta sheets over your sauce, making sure you cover it fully.
Now it’s time for your cheese sauce, place a thin layer of the sauce over the pasta sheets, again making sure you cover the pasta sheets fully.
Now you repeat this process, ideally, you’d have three layers. It’s time to put it in the oven to bake now, so cook it for 30 minutes but turn it around halfway through to ensure an even bake
Serve on plates or in bowls Bellissimo – enjoy!
Nutrition calories: 669kcal | Carbohydrates: 66g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 27g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 806mg | Potassium: 1027mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2900IU | Vitamin C: 62mg | Calcium: 315mg | Iron: 14mg.
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