Vegetarian Lasagne -

Vegetarian Lasagne

This Vegetarian Lasagne is packed with flavour, it's rich and creamy, very tasty and comforting. The best kind of veggie comfort food. Perfect for making ahead and having in your freezer. Cook it at the weekend then have it during the week.

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian, Vegetarian

Prep Time 15

Cook Time 1 15

Total Time 1 30

Servings

Calories 501kcal

Author Michelle Alston

Ingredients

For the tomato sauce

2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium white onion (180g) chopped
1 stalk of celery finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced
1 medium carrot (80g) peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
½ tablespoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon red chilli flakes
50 ml red wine
1 x 650g bottle of passata
1 bay leaf
¼ tsp each of sea salt and ground black pepper

For the white sauce

50 g butter
50 g plain flour (all-purpose)
2 cups of milk
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
¼ teaspoon grated nutmeg
50 g mature cheddar cheese
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

For the lasagne

250 g fresh egg pasta lasagne sheets
5 or 6 large portobello mushrooms wiped clean then sliced
2 medium courgettes/zucchini sliced thinly lengthways
1 jar of roasted red bell peppers cut into quarters lengthways
250 g fresh mozzarella cheese grated

Instructions

Tomato sauce

Heat the oil in a large saucepan, add the onion and cook over a medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and cook for another 5 minutes. Next, add the garlic, red chilli flakes and dried oregano and cook for 1 minute.
Now turn up the heat, pour in the wine. Stir it and let it bubble down for a few minutes.
Finally, add the passata, the bay leaf, black pepper and salt then turn down the heat and let the sauce simmer until it has reduced by a third and is nice and thick.
Stir in the fresh basil.
Remove the bay leaf then set aside until you are ready to assemble the lasagne.

White sauce

Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the flour and stir until you have a roux. Slowly whisk in the milk. Once all the milk has been added and you have a thick white sauce bring to the boil then reduce to a slow simmer. Stir in the mustard and pepper.
Turn off the heat then stir in the grated cheddar.
Set aside until you are ready to assemble the lasagne.

Assemble the lasagne

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C, 356F. I use an electric fan assisted oven please adjust according to your own oven.
Spread a serving spoon of tomato over the base of your casserole dish.
Place the lasagne sheets over the sauce, then top that with half the courgette, followed by half the mushrooms and half the red pepper.
Cover the vegetables with half the tomato sauce then pour over some of the white sauce.
Top with sheets of lasagne then repeat. I had two layers.
Pour the remaining white sauce over the last layer of pasta sheets then liberally spread the grated mozzarella over the top.
Place the lasagne on the middle shelf of the oven and back for 40 - 45 minutes. The sauce should be bubbling and the cheese should be golden brown.
Once the lasagne is done, leave it to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with a green salad or/and garlic bread.

Notes

Nutritional Information - is approximate and is calculated using an online nutrition tool. It does not include any side dishes such as garlic bread.
Lasagne Sheets - I use fresh egg lasagne sheets, if you can't get fresh then the dried lasagne sheets will work well too. Just cook them slightly before you use them.
Peppers - To save on time I use a small jar of roasted red peppers. I have often made this with char grilled pepper though. If you prefer this then you use your own roasted peppers.
To char-grill red peppers - I set one whole pepper on a small gas ring on the stovetop over a high heat. Once one side is completely black and charred, after about 5 minutes, turn it over and repeat until the whole pepper is black and soft. Place the charred pepper in a bowl and cover with kitchen paper, leave to sit for about 5 minutes. Then with a knife scrape off the black skin. Remove the stem and slice the pepper into strips.
Passata - If you can't find passata then two tins of chopped/diced tomatoes will work well too. Just break up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon when cooking.
Dish size - My casserole dish was 24cm x 24cm and 6cm deep.

Nutrition