This super-tasty, cheesy lasagna will win over any meat lovers in your family. Vegetarian lasagna just doesn’t get any better than this!
Serves: 4
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Servings
Serves: 4
Prep time
Cook time
Recipe
Ingredients
- 100g uncooked Puy lentils (sometimes called French lentils)
- 1 onion, peeled & halved
- 2–3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 stick celery, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 medium zucchini, roughly chopped
- 2 dried bay leaves
- Generous handful fresh thyme, leaves picked off stems
- 250g Swiss brown or portobello mushrooms
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 400mL vegetable stock (or bone broth if not worried about it being vegetarian)
- 400g tin diced tomatoes or 6 vine-ripened roma tomatoes, diced
- Sea salt & black pepper, to taste
- 2 handfuls baby spinach leaves, chopped
- 200g dried gluten-free lasagne sheets
-
Cheese Sauce - 30g butter
- 50g spelt flour
- 500mL milk of choice (full-fat is best)
- 1 cup grated mature cheddar cheese
Sea salt & black pepper, to taste
Method
- Preheat oven to 180ºC.
- I like to soak all legumes overnight in water with a splash of vinegar, so do this with Puy lentils if you like (you don’t have to but I recommend it).
- Heat large pan over low heat and add olive oil. Add chopped onion and garlic and gently sauté over while preparing other vegies.
- Place celery, carrots and zucchini in food processor and pulse to chop – you’re looking for coarse consistency, so be careful not to over process. Alternatively, grate carrot and zucchini and finely dice celery.
- Add to pan with onion and sauté for a few mins with bay leaves and thyme leaves.
- Pulse mushrooms in food processor until just chopped, or very finely dice by hand.
- Add to pan with Puy lentils, tomato paste, stock and diced tomato. Season, stir to combine and allow to simmer with lid ajar, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens and lentils are cooked, about 30 mins.
- Once cooked, add chopped spinach and stir though to wilt. Taste and adjust the seasoning (salt brings out flavour so don’t be shy). Remove from heat and set aside.
- In medium-sized pot, melt butter over low heat. Remove from heat and add flour, mixing to combine.
- Return to medium–high heat and gradually add milk, approx. ½ cup at a time, mixing constantly. As it heats it will thicken and this is when you should add another ½ cup milk. Do this until all milk is added and sauce is thick.
- Add about quarter of the cheese, season with sea salt and pepper to taste, and stir well (reserve remaining cheese for top of lasagne).
- To assemble lasagne, use medium-sizes baking dish, placing half of lentil sauce in base, top with lasagne sheets, then remaining lentil sauce, another layer of pasta and finish with cheese sauce and remaining grated cheese.
- Bake for 30–45 mins or until lasagne is cooked through. Serve hot.
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