Story
Ever since I started eating vegetarian food, I have been looking for food that looks attractive but also is not too fattening. The cheese sauce in lasagna I have always found to be high in calories, and so I came up with this version. Not only delicious but looks pretty on the plate. It also isn’t that harmful on my quest for a lighter, slimmer form!
| Preparation time Around 30 mins | Cooking time Around 1hr 10 mins | Diet Vegetarian |
| Preheat oven 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 | Grease and line A deep, 32x28cm tin with baking paper | Portions Serves around 12 |
Ingredients
For the vegetarian lasagne:
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and sliced
2 yellow or red peppers, seeds removed, cut roughly into small chunks
1 courgette, cut roughly into small chunks
a drizzle of oil
3 medium onions, roughly chopped
2 large carrots, peeled and finely diced or grated
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 vegetable stock cube
200ml/7fl oz cold water
150g/5½oz dried green or red lentils, rinsed well under running water
3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 tsp dried herbs
200g/3½oz spinach or other green leafy vegetables, roughly chopped
2 packets dried lasagne sheets (around 12 standard sheets per packet)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
small handful of grated cheese and small chunks of feta cheese
Method
Step 1
Preheat the oven.
Step 2
Put the butternut squash, courgette and peppers into a large baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss together until all the ingredients are evenly coated. Leave on the middle shelf of the oven for 30 minutes, or until softened and a gentle brown colour. (Look at the roasted vegetables recipe for more details.) You can add whatever vegetables take your fancy, as long as you keep quantities similar so that the cooking times don’t change too much.
Step 3
Heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion and carrots for 5 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the crushed garlic and fry for a few seconds more.
Boil the water and crumble the stock cube into a cup. Stir until completely dissolved. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, lentils, beans, herbs and the dissolved stock cube. Cook for 10/15 minutes, stirring regularly. Set aside.
Step 4
Take out the roast vegetables from the oven. Add to the tomato sauce. Cook the spinach or green leafy vegetables seperately for a further 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Step 5
Pour a third of the vegetable sauce over the base of an oven-proof lasagne dish and cover with a single layer of lasagne. Put a layer of green spinach on the top and then cover with a single layer of lasagne. Do this process a second time, giving you four layers.
Step 6
Heat up the last tin of tomatoes and season it. Lay on a final level of lasagne and spoon on the tomato mixture. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top, including the feta cheese.
Step 7
Bake for 35–40 minutes. The dish is ready when the topping is golden brown, and bubbling and crisp around the edges. Leave to stand for around 5 minutes before serving.
Tips
You can cut out individual portions to freeze, for up to a maximum of three months.
It can be served with a side portion of salad if you so desire!
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