Lentil and spinach lasagna

Vegetarian Lasagna is a dish I make regularly as it’s a nice change from curry and rice.  This week, I made lasagna with lots of spinach, red peppers and mung beans.

Ingredients for 6 servings

• 9-10 lasagna sheets
• 4 cups of  cooked and blended spinach
• 1 cup of red peppers
• 1 onion
• 2 cups of passata
• 4 cloves of garlic – peeled and crushed
• 2 tbls of olive oil plus a tbls for adding to the water when cooking the lasagna sheets
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped green chillies -optional
• 3-4 cups of grated cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon of dry herbs such as oregano or basil

For the white sauce:

• 1 oz butter
• 1 oz plain flour
• 1 pint milk
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

For the red dip: recipe here

Method:

1. Warm up the olive oil and add the onions to the oil and cook for 2 -3 minutes.

2. Add the spinach, peppers and mung beans to the mixture and stir well so that they are coated with the oil. Add the salt, pepper, garlic and green chilies to the mixture.

3. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer until the mung beans soften.

4. Once the vegetables are cooked, add the passata to the mixture and allow it to cook until nice and thick.  Once cooked, allow it to cool.

Now prepare the white sauce:

5. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour and cook to form a roux.

6. Add the nutmeg to the roux. Take the saucepan off the heat and gradually stir in some of the milk. Whisk it to get a smooth sauce.  Add in all the milk and return the saucepan to heat until it starts to boil. Add in the nutmeg powder. Add in the salt and pepper and half the cheese and stir.  Remove this from the heat and allow it to cool.

Now prepare the lasagne sheets.

7. Boil some water in a large saucepan and add some salt and olive oil to it.  Put in the lasagna sheets a few at a time and allow them to cook for at least 3 minutes. I tend to par cook all lasagna sheets even if the instructions on the box say that they don’t need to be precooked.

Now assemble the Rich Creamy Vegetarian Lasagna:

8.  Add a layer of the cooked lentils and cover this with the par cooked lasagna sheets.

9.  Add a layer of the white sauce topped with a layer of vegetables.  Repeat the layering again ending with the white sauce at the top. Sprinkle the top white sauce layer with grated cheese. Sprinkle the dry herbs on top of the cheese and cook in middle of the oven at 190 degrees for 25 -30 minutes. I garnished mine with extra onions.  You can use any toppings you like.10.  Serve it hot with roast potatoes and a tomato dip.

What fillings do you like in your lasagnia?