This is a recipe from the vault (2011) that is VERY good but VERY much a pain in the arse to make. Lots of prep. Slicing, dicing, roasting, layering, but the end result is worth it. If you are a veggo or have a couple over that you need to feed, whip this up for everyone and let everyone enjoy it. If you are going to the effort to make it I would double batch it so you can whack one in the freezer for later. Of course you don’t have to do all the pre-cooking of the veggies (roasting etc) but I really think it gives such a great depth of flavour it’s worth it!
Vegetarian Lasagne
2 eggplants
2 zucchinis
2 red capsicums
1 sweet potato
1 bunch spinach
Pesto
Bechamel sauce
2 cans whole tomatoes
1 brown onion
Pasta sheets
Mozzarella for topping
Plenty of seasoning (garlic, salt & pepper to compensate for the non meatness)
1. First get stuck into the raw vegies, peeling, chopping, cutting, roasting with plenty of oil, garlic salt & pepper
2. You can make your own pesto (or use a good quality store bought one). If you are making it, I throw into a food processor a bunch of basil with 3 whole garlic cloves, packet of pine nuts salt & pepps and then slowly drizzle in the oil.
3. Fry up the spinach with some butter and garlic and also throw in the zucchini that you can slice with your peeler.
4. The tomato sauce is a simple chopped onion, garlic and dried oregano fried off before throwing in the 2 cans of tomatoes and simmering for 15 mins or so.
See what I mean about pain in the arse? You are now ready to construct and layer.
5. Now it’s time to make the béchamel sauce (I chuck in about a quarter of a stick of butter, throw in some plain flour to cook off then add milk slowly, slowly bit by bit whisking all the time until combined and thick. Easy!)
6. Now it’s time to start layering. I start with the tomato sauce at the bottom and then a bit of this, and that, some bechamel and dollops of pesto & pasta sheets (I used dried). This bit is fun and totally satisfying.
7. Put into a 180 degree oven (cover in foil for the first 30 mins) and then uncovered for a further 15 or so until golden brown. There’s only 456 pans to clean up afterwards!
And there you go! Delicious AND fiddly!
[gmc_recipe 17836]
Are you a fan of a good old veggie las?
Got an easier way to do it? I know you don’t have to roast them all but it does give you SUCH great depth of flavour…
love it! … looks so delicious! thanks beth!
i’m glad I could tell you that!
lol m:)X how is kevin?;)) … he looks right at home!
He had a lovely visit x
As a vegetarian I am very excited about this lasagne Beth. Yes, it’s a bit of a faff to prep but agree that doubling up and freezing one for later would make that worthwhile.
I’ll be making this next week.
And the suggestion of doing one big roast up of veggies for the week is a good one!
Wow – that looks super delish.. I couldn’t put that effort in though. I would have to find short cuts. Things like: do a massive vege roast off so that in addition to using for this, the veg are prepared for the week ahead. Alternatively I might get other half to do all the veg on the bbq grill.
I use smooth ricotta with feta mixed through as I can’t be bothered making bechamel.
Love the idea of including pesto and I’d do a huge batch of that too to cover other uses.
Yes JP – I was also thinking I would do it on the same night as a roast and then pop it in the fridge for next day. The pesto and tomato sauces could be made in bulk too- this is starting to look like meal planning for a whole week!
Great tips – thanks JP!