I love cooking from scratch…. if not entirely from scratch, then as much of the dish as possible.
We all take shortcuts from time to time, and the one shortcut in this recipe is the pasta. Making pasta from scratch is on my ‘to-learn’ list.
This doesn’t detract from what is a great dish! Tasty and simple, a winning combination in my book. I don’t do a bechamel sauce with this dish as I find just a simple cheese sauce works well.
The Hubby commented that it tasted ‘fresh’ which I think is a compliment? And the fridge smelt heavenly whilst it was waiting to be baked.
Vegetable Lasagne – Serves 4
Ingredients:
Ragu/Sauce
3 x Large Tomatoes ( I use vine toms)
1 x Onion
2 x Cloves of Garlic
1 x Heaped Tablespoon of Tomato Puree
Salt, Sugar, Dried Basil, Black Pepper and Balsamic Vinegar to season
(You can of course take a shortcut here and buy ready-made red sauce)
White/Cheese sauce
3/4 Pint of Milk
4 Tablespoons of Cornflour plus an additional 4 Tablespoons of Milk
100g/3.5oz Grated Hard Cheese to your liking (I use Cheddar)
Other ingredients
2 x Peppers
1 x Courgette/Zucchini
1 x Red Onion (you may only need half depending on size – mine was big!)
6 x Large Mushrooms (washed and/or peeled)
Dry Pasta Sheets/Noodles (or if you are very clever your own hand-made pasta ;-))
Step One
Heat a large heavy-bottomed pan adding a little oil if desired.
Roughly chop the tomatoes and onion
Add to the pan the toms, onion, crushed garlic a pinch or two of salt, approx. half a teaspoon of sugar (I use brown), a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and a good shake all over the pan of dried basil.
Leave on a moderate heat whilst you prep the rest of the lasagne, ensuring all the ingredients are mixed thoroughly and that they aren’t sticking to the pan. Remember to give it a stir a couple of times whilst you prep the other veg.
Step two
Dice the courgette, peppers, mushrooms and red onion.
Layer the bottom of the lasagne dish with half of the vegetables
Then add half of the ragu/sauce from the hob
Step 3
Warm 3/4 pint of milk in a glass/pyrex jug in the microwave for 3 minutes on high.
Whilst warming, in a separate cup mix together 4 tablespoons of cornflour and 4 tablespoons of cold milk until a paste.
Remove the warm milk from the microwave. Pour in the paste and 3/4 of grated cheese (keeping 1/4 back to sprinkle on the top of the lasagne).
Stir well. Then heat for a further 90 seconds (and up to 2 minutes). Remove sauce from the microwave and stir well. Leave to stand and thicken.
Step 4
Place the pasta sheets over the bottom layer of vegetables until covered.
Pour over half of the cheese sauce and spread evenly.
Step 5
Repeat another layer of chopped vegetables and add the remaining tomato sauce. Cover with pasta sheets once more and pour over the remaining cheese sauce. Spread evenly.
Step 6
Sprinkle over the leftover grated cheese. Add a grind or 2 of black pepper and refrigerate until ready to cook.
Step 7
To cook, preheat an oven to a moderate-high heat. This is approx. 180C/360F in an electric oven. Cook for 35-40 minutes. Then serve immediately.
The cooked lasagne can then be kept in the fridge for up to 48 hours and reheated. Ensure all food is piping hot before serving when reheating.
I’d love to hear how you do a veggie lasagne…any suggestions on how to improve or adapt this recipe are very welcome. Please share!
** Please note that I am not a qualified nutritionist or professional cook. My recipes are what I put together at home and all amounts etc… are approximate. What I write is my own experience of cooking the recipe. Ovens and ingredients do vary – just go with it, have fun and apply common sense at all times! Practise makes perfect!
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I like to pre-BBQ all my vegies. I use a mandolin to cut them all (cause I’m not that good!), and I have pumpkin and sweet potato and egg plant! So healthy! And then I make my cheese sauce with ricotta with spinach and rocket mixed in (with heat). Yumm!
That sounds like a great combination! Gonna have to give it a go! Thanks…
I like to pre-BBQ all my vegies. I use a mandolin to cut them all (cause I’m not that good!), and I have pumpkin and sweet potato and egg plant! So healthy! And then I make my cheese sauce with ricotta with spinach and rocket mixed in (with heat). Yumm!
That sounds like a great combination! Gonna have to give it a go! Thanks…
Sounds delicious! I thought I cooked a lot from scratch too, until someone told me it wasn’t that hard to make your own cheese. I don’t think I’ll be going there!
Making cheese, oh boy! maybe a step to far for me, I’m still contemplating yoghurt…
Sounds delicious! I thought I cooked a lot from scratch too, until someone told me it wasn’t that hard to make your own cheese. I don’t think I’ll be going there!
Making cheese, oh boy! maybe a step to far for me, I’m still contemplating yoghurt…
Oooh… that looks yummy! Lasagna is one of CatMan’s favorites, so I’ve made all different varieties. I’ve never heard of this layer of white/cream/cheese/bechamel sauce though, so I may have to give that a try! Most recipes I’ve seen call for a layer of ricotta & egg, which I’ve never been terribly fond of… sort of tastes like styrofoam IMHO.
A friend of mine from Italy uses mascarpone… which is delicious, but VERY expensive. I’ve gotten similar results with cream cheese… hmmm… my mind is reeling.
Anyhow, I generally try for one layer of veggie rich and one layer of protein rich… although sometimes I mix veggies & protein together. If it was just me, I’d probably use ground chicken or beef, but CatMan is vegetarian so I’ve used everything from TVP (textured vegetable protein) to tofu, to scrambled eggs! The tofu works best if you either freeze it first and squeeze out the moisture (for a more meaty texture) or blend it with some cheese for a cheezy layer.
My veggies are generally mushrooms, shredded zucchini (courgettes I think you call them) or some sort of cooked greens like spinach or chard.
My mind is spinning with the possibilities! I can’t wait to try some of these ideas out with my next batch!
Hey Cat… there’s some options there. Got to say the mascarpone one sounds fantastic. I love that type of cheese. Like you said ‘spinning with possibilities’ – I feel very conservative with this recipe now!
Oooh… that looks yummy! Lasagna is one of CatMan’s favorites, so I’ve made all different varieties. I’ve never heard of this layer of white/cream/cheese/bechamel sauce though, so I may have to give that a try! Most recipes I’ve seen call for a layer of ricotta & egg, which I’ve never been terribly fond of… sort of tastes like styrofoam IMHO.
A friend of mine from Italy uses mascarpone… which is delicious, but VERY expensive. I’ve gotten similar results with cream cheese… hmmm… my mind is reeling.
Anyhow, I generally try for one layer of veggie rich and one layer of protein rich… although sometimes I mix veggies & protein together. If it was just me, I’d probably use ground chicken or beef, but CatMan is vegetarian so I’ve used everything from TVP (textured vegetable protein) to tofu, to scrambled eggs! The tofu works best if you either freeze it first and squeeze out the moisture (for a more meaty texture) or blend it with some cheese for a cheezy layer.
My veggies are generally mushrooms, shredded zucchini (courgettes I think you call them) or some sort of cooked greens like spinach or chard.
My mind is spinning with the possibilities! I can’t wait to try some of these ideas out with my next batch!
Hey Cat… there’s some options there. Got to say the mascarpone one sounds fantastic. I love that type of cheese. Like you said ‘spinning with possibilities’ – I feel very conservative with this recipe now!
Your lasagna looks super! Loved every bit. When you have some time, do drop by my blog. I just made some custard and would love to know what to think of my recipe 🙂
Thanks for that, did pop over. Gosh there’s some good looking food over there!
Your lasagna looks super! Loved every bit. When you have some time, do drop by my blog. I just made some custard and would love to know what to think of my recipe 🙂
Thanks for that, did pop over. Gosh there’s some good looking food over there!