Better-Than-Meat Vegetarian Lasagna

A well made vegetarian pasta can make you forget about meat (temporarily). This particular favourite of mine is a satisfying meal served with a simple salad or some garlic bread.

The lasagna has two layers: mixed vegetables in a tomato sauce at the base, and a cheesy spinach and mushroom layer above. It’s all topped off with some more cheese for a nice crust.

It’s a simple recipe, but takes a little bit of work. The reward is well worth it.

Ingredients

Based on a 2.5 litre baking dish.

• 12 standard size lasagna sheets. I use the variety that does not need to be pre-boiled.
• 1 medium green capsicum
• 1 medium yellow capsicum
• 1 medium zucchini or 1 medium eggplant
• 200 g cherry tomatoes, or similar tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 200 g tomato paste
• 200 g mushrooms
• 800 g spinach leaves
• 3–4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 2 tablespoons of cream
• Fresh basil, oregano or thyme, or dried oregano or thyme
• Red chilli flakes to your liking
• 200 g fresh mozzarella
• 50–60 g parmesan, or any cheese you prefer, for the top
• Freshly cracked black pepper
• Salt to taste

Method

Tomato and vegetable sauce

1. Chop the capsicum, zucchini, eggplant and mushrooms into a 1" dice.
2. If using eggplant, once you have chopped it, rub a little salt into it and let it drain in a colander. This helps remove some of its bitterness. Leave it for 10 minutes and then give it a quick rinse.
3. Heat some olive oil and add the cherry tomatoes. Let them heat up until they soften and start bursting with a little pressure, gently break down about half of the tomatoes, and add the vegetables you are using.
4. Mix them through and add the tomato paste, basil and other herbs.
5. Season with salt and add red chilli flakes to your desired level of heat.
6. The vegetables should only just start to soften, no more: we want a chunky sauce.

Spinach and mushroom sauce

1. Prepare the spinach by blanching it in hot water for 4 minutes, then removing it and plunging it into ice water.
2. Drain the spinach and squeeze all the water out of it. You will probably end up with a ball of about 200 g.
3. Heat a little oil in a skillet and add the garlic. Once it is fragrant, add the mushrooms and let them brown a bit. Add the spinach and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Turn off the heat, add the cream to the spinach and mix it through.

Build the layers

1. Put a little of the liquid from the tomato sauce in the base of the baking dish and spread it around.
2. Put 3 lasagna sheets on top of the sauce, trying to cover the whole of the dish.
3. Put the vegetable and tomato sauce on top of the lasagna sheets. Avoid adding too much liquid and try to keep the sauce chunky. Reserve some of the sauce to dress the top of the lasagna.
4. Cover the tomato sauce with more lasagna sheets.
5. The next layer is the spinach and mushroom. Cover the lasagna sheets completely.
6. Put the fresh mozzarella on top of the spinach and mushroom layer.
7. I usually tear the mozzarella into chunks and spread them around the spinach. You don’t want a complete layer of cheese, just cheese studded throughout.
8. Once the cheese is on, put on the last layer of lasagna sheets.
9. Lightly dress the last layer of sheets with the remaining tomato sauce. You are not going to cover it completely; in fact, you want some of the sheet showing.
10. Grate the parmesan finely and spread it over the tomato sauce and the pasta sheets. Again, you don’t want a complete layer of cheese, just a scattering.
11. Let the lasagna sit for 10 minutes to settle, and it’s ready for baking.

Baking

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Lightly cover the baking dish with foil, so that it is not touching the cheese.
3. Place the dish on the middle shelf and bake for 30 minutes.
4. Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the cheese.
5. Remove the dish from the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. This lets the liquids settle, and the lasagna will be easier to cut and serve.
6. Use a wide spatula and a knife to cut the lasagna into squares, and serve.

Tips

1. Use any vegetables you have or like. Even potato works well.
2. To turn this into a meat lasagna, add meat to the tomato sauce instead of the vegetables.
3. A traditional lasagna uses a béchamel sauce, made from a roux (flour cooked in butter) and milk. I like the mozzarella more.

Eat in good health!