Vegetarian Lasagna

So last night I made a vegetarian lasagna. I adore this dish as it is a lighter, healthier version than the usual meat lasagna. I remember my mother and I started making this when our family friends would come round and one lady is a vegetarian, therefore to not leave her out we created a whole new lasagna that she could enjoy as well. The thing about lasagna is that it is such a good dish for meal prep - you can cut it up, pop it in containters and put some in the freezer and others in the fridge, so that if you have a full on day at uni you can just bring this with you!

Ingredients (5 people):

Tomato Sauce :

• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
• Basil
• Tomato purée
• 1/2 large onion

Béchamel

• 125g of butter
• 40g of flour
• 1/2 Litre of milk

Aubergines:

• 2 large aubergines
• Olive oil
• 1 garlic clove

Courgettes

• 2 large courgettes
• Olive oil
• ¼ of an onion

Extras:

• 1 large mozzarella
• Parmesan
• Basil leaves

Method:

Tomato Sauce :

1. To make the tomato sauce (Which will take about two hours so make sure you leave plenty of time to make this), you slice an onion and put it in a saucepan with some olive oil. Put this at a high heat until the onion starts to brown.
2. Once the onion is browned, add the tins of chopped tomatoes, another glug of olive oil and some basil, a pinch of salt and put the lid on the saucepan. Cook this at a low-ish temperature for about one hour and a half.

Béchamel:

1. Add the butter to the saucepan and let it melt at a low temperature (we don’t want the butter to burn)
2. When the butter is fully melted, add in the flour and stir it around softly, getting rid of all lumps.
3. Slowly slowly add the milk whilst stirring. This will be along process so you must be very patient.
4. Make sure you always stir in the same direction as this will facilitate the thickening of the sauce.
5. The key to making good bechamelle sauce is in the pace – the slower you are in making it the better and more flavoursome it will be.

Aubergines:

1. slice the aubergines in vertical strips
2. put a frying pan with a glug of olive oil. When the oil is hot enough add one galic clove and wait for it to start fizzing,
3. Add the aubergines and cook them at a medium to low heat (make sure you don’t burn them)

Courgettes:

1. Put some oil in a frying pan at high temperature.
2. When the oil is hot enough, add the sliced onion
3. Once the onion is browned, turn the heat down to medium and add the courgettes that you will have sliced.
4. Cook these with a lid on until they soften up.

Once you have prepared all your ingredients, it is time to assemble the lasagna. In order to do this easily and efficiently, make sure you put everything in front of you.

1. Put a very large pan filled with water on a high heat.
2. Preheat your oven to 180° Celsius.
3. When the water is boiling add a teaspoon of salt and a drip of oil to ensure the sheets don’t stick together. Then add the lasagna sheets.
4. After about 3 minutes take them out and lay them out on your dish. For 5 people I would use a medium sized dish, which holds about 3-4 sheets. Make sure there are no gaps when placing them.
5. When you have your bottom layer you can start assembling. Add tomato sauce on the bottom followed by the aubergines, courgettes, béchamel, mozzarella (which you will have cut into squares), basil and add a good amount of Parmesan on the top.
6. Repeat this about 4 times or enough to cover your whole dish.
7. The top layer should just have some béchamel and you can add optional breadcrumbs.



8. Put the lasagne in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

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