Posted in Recipes on 06.03.2019
Vegetarian Lasagne Recipe
prep: 20 mins / cook: 1 hour 25 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 1 hour 45 mins / quantity: 4-6 portions Print recipe?
This Vegetarian Lasagne Recipe is absolutely packed with veggies and lentils in a rich tomato sauce, layered and topped with a vegan cheese and pesto sauce.
I honestly wasn’t sure, making this vegetarian lasagne, that Phil would like it. It’s lentils and they’re still a relatively foreign thing to him. But when he not only says how much he enjoyed it but actually asked if next time he could make it himself I call that a resounding win!
A big old dish of vegetable lasagne is the thing I like to cook when I have a bit of time as it’s great for feeding us for a few meals.
It’s also one of those dishes I can leave bubbling away while I get on with other things. Putting it all together is a complete doddle – I don’t even bother pre-cooking the lasagne sheets! I find doing that leaves you with a very sloppy lasagne – one that’s hard to portion up and get out of the dish!
Don’t be afraid of making your own white sauce either – there’s just a few simple ‘rules’ to follow that ensure a silky smooth, lump free sauce:
- Carefully measure/weigh your ingredients – you want equal quantities of both vegan butter (or oil) and plain flour.
- Once you’ve mixed the vegan butter and flour together cook for a minute or two. This cooks the flour so you don’t end up with a raw flour taste in your finished sauce.
- Keep a low/medium heat under the pan as you add the milk.
- Add the milk gradually in 3-4 stages rather than dumping it in all at once and mix the roux well between additions.
After I’d built the vegetarian lasagne and topped it with the white sauce I swirled some vegan pesto across the top and once it was baked grated on some vegan cheese. I thoroughly recommend Violife Prosociano Wedge – it’s a lovely vegan parmesan substitute. You could add it to your cheese sauce too but personally I think the nutritional yeast gives it enough of a ‘cheesy’ flavour.
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Vegetarian Lasagne Recipe
prep: 20 mins / cook: 1 hour 25 mins / inactive: 0 mins / total: 1 hour 45 mins / quantity: 4-6 portions
Ingredients
Filling:
- 1 large (approx 350g) leek
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 courgette
- 1 red or green pepper
- drizzle of olive oil
- 1 + 1/2 cups (300g) cooked lentils (you can use tinned as well)
- 2 cups (500ml) passata
- 1 cup (250ml) vegetable stock (or 1 cup/250ml water and 2 veg stock cubes)
- 1 tblsp coconut sugar
- 1 tblsp umami paste (I used this from Hodmedods)
- 2 tblsp tomato puree
- 4 cups (300g) closed cap mushrooms
- salt and pepper
- 12-15 lasagne sheets
White Sauce:
- 1/4 cup (40g) vegan butter or oil
- 1/4 cup (40g) plain flour (white or wholemeal both work)
- 1 + 1/2 cups (375ml) unsweetened almond milk
- 4 tblsp nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper
Optional:
- 3-4 tblsp vegan pesto
- grated vegan parmesan
Instructions
- Cut the leek in half lengthways then slice each half thinly. Rinse in cold water to remove any dirt and drain well. Put into a large saucepan
- Peel and crush the garlic and add to the pan
- Dice the courgette and pepper (stalks and seeds removed and discarded) and add to the pan with a drizzle of olive oil
- Cook over a medium heat for a minute or so till the leek starts to just soften then add the lentils, passata, vegetable stock, sugar, umami paste and tomato puree
- Stir everything well together, then bubble over a low heat for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally
- Thickly slice the mushrooms then add to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring a couple of time
- Preheat your oven to 180 Fan / 200 C / 400 F / Gas 6
- Into a large baking dish 12 x 8.5 inches (30 x 21 cm) lay 4-5 sheets of lasagne across the bottom, overlapping slightly
- Top with half of the tomato lentil sauce
- Top that with another 4-5 sheets of lasagne and the rest of the tomato sauce. Lay the last 4-5 sheets of lasagne across the top
- To make the white sauce melt the vegan butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat then stir in all the flour.
- Cook, stirring continuously for 1 minute then add about 1/4 of the milk. Stir until the mixture returns to a paste then stir in another 1/4 of the milk, repeating the process until all the milk is used up
- Cook until it starts to bubble then turn off the heat and stir in the nutritional yeast and plenty of salt and pepper
- Pour this over the top layer of lasagne sheets and spread to completely cover them
- Drop in spoonfulls of pesto across the top of the white sauce then use the point of a knife or a spoon handle to swirl the two together
- Add this point you can chill the lasagne and keep in the fridge for a few days
- Otherwise place in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden and bubbling. If you're cooking the dish from chilled or re-heating leftovers you will probably need to cook a little longer - just ensure it's piping hot in the centre before serving!
- Sprinkle with a little vegan parmesan just before serving
Some products I used in today's post...
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Hello there! I’m Sam, former Michelin star pastry chef and now your go-to vegan foodie on a mission to make plant-based eating a deliciously easy adventure! From cozy comfort foods to vibrant salads and decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone in my kitchen.
Whether you’re cooking for one or for a houseful I believe food doesn’t have to be complicated to be full of FLAVOUR and I want to show you how. I’ve been a rigorous meal planner for over a decade whilst embracing seasonal ingredients (because that’s where the real flavour is!)
I’m also a dedicated dog mum to Nooch and Baxter and enjoy cooking them homemade treats (many of which are posted here) when I’m not screaming at the tennis or devouring fantasy fiction.
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