Spiced Crab Cakes

Vegetable Lasagne

Feb 27, 2018 | Lunch / Supper / Mains

This is the perfect family-friendly meal to help pack a rainbow of different vegetables into a meal. Most people think of beef mince when lasagne springs to mind, however, this recipe has so many interesting flavours and textures that substituting the meat will most likely go unnoticed. This is another clever way to hide lots of vegetables if you happen to have children who can be picky with certain vegetables. Chopping them as finely as you wish, once covered in the béchamel sauce and lasagne sheets, a courgette or celery stick can easily be disguised if needed. We used gluten free lasagne sheets and have provided options below for standard béchamel sauce and also a dairy-free version.

Prep time: 25 mins
Cooking time: 30 mins
Serves: 6

Tomato sauce

  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 large red onion
  • 4 sticks celery
  • 3 peppers (red, yellow, green)
  • 1 large courgette
  • 5 cloves garlic
  • Dried Herbs
  • Vegetable stock cube (we used Kallo)
  • Splash of Worcester Sauce
  • 600g chopped tomatoes (2 tins)
  • Sea salt & black pepper

Method:

  1. Finely chop all ingredients (to give a smoother sauce rather than big chunks).
  2. Fry in a small amount of odourless coconut oil.  When vegetables are soft, add the tomatoes and simmer for 30 mins or to taste.
  3. Make the béchamel sauce then set to one side (see below).
  4. In either a large lasagne dish or smaller individual dishes (as we used), layer the vegetable mix, then a layer of lasagne. Then a layer of béchamel sauce followed by another sheet of lasagne. Repeat the above process, but leave the béchamel sauce as the final layer on top. Season with a little sea salt and black pepper to taste.

Béchamel sauce

  • 60g butter
  • 60g rice flour
  • 600ml milk
  • 300g Cheddar cheese

Method:

  1. Heat and melt butter and stir in the sifted flour continually.
  2. Gradually stir in milk and gently whisk to keep smooth.

Dairy and gluten-free sauce:

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp gluten-free flour
  • 500ml of any non-dairy milk
  • Black Pepper
  • Sea Salt

Method:

  1. Add the oil to a pan on the hob and heat it at medium to high heat.
  2. As the oil heats, sift the flour and add to the pan stirring continually.
  3. Fry the flour in the oil for a bit, stirring vigorously, don’t allow it to burn, turn down your heat if it starts to stick at any point.
  4. Add the non-dairy milk gradually and continue to stir and allow the sauce to thicken.
  5. You will usually get to the right thickness after it has reached boiling point and boiled for a few minutes.
  6. When you’ve reached the desired thickness, remove from the heat and add any sea salt and black pepper as desired.