Lasagne is such a crowdpleaser. And this is a very good one. I’ll often do a lasagne when we have guests coming over as you can just make it up in advance and pop it in the oven when they arrive for a very hands-off, easygoing evening. And it’s always a hit. It’s packed to the brim with veggies too.
Ingredients
Makes 1 tray / 6 portions
2 carrots, finely diced
1 white onion, finely diced
2 sticks celery finely diced
2 tins chopped tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
Pinch dried or fresh thyme
Pinch chilli flakes
100g tomato puree
1 tbsp Marmite/yeast extract
100g butter
2 heaped tbsp plain flour
Pinch grated nutmeg
600ml milk
120g grated parmesan
1 ball mozzarella, torn into small chunks
500g pack dried lasagne sheets
200g dried green lentils, washed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
250g spinach leaves, washed
Salt and pepper
Looking for substitutions?
Swap the onions or celery for shallots or leeks
Use pre-cooked lentils and skip the boiling step, just double their weight
Can’t get hold of Marmite? Leave it out or replace with reduced stock
Make it vegan? Swap the milk for your favourite plant-based milk. Omit the cheese and add a good handful of nutritional yeast and a squeeze of lemon juice to the béchamel. Alternatively you could use your favourite plant based cheese.
Recipe
- Place the lentils in a large pan with plenty of water, boil until just tender and drain
- In a large pan sweat the onions, carrots and celery with a little olive oil until softened. Stir in the garlic, fennel seeds, thyme, chilli and tomato paste. Cook for a minute or two then stir in the chopped tomatoes. Bring to a simmer then stir in the lentils. Cook until the sauce has thickened and season to taste
- In a large pan melt the butter, then stir in the flour. Cook out the roux for 3-4 mis over a low heat. Slowly stir in the milk, very slowly, stirring in little by little until incorporated into a thick sauce. Stir in the nutmeg and spinach until wilted and season to taste
- In a deep baking dish make thin layers of the lentil ragu, then the lasagne sheets, then the spinach béchamel, then grated parmesan and so on finishing topping with a béchamel layer, mozzarella and a good drizzle of olive oil
- Bake at 190c fan until nicely golden, around 40 mins
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