Easy Green Lentil and Mushroom Lasagne

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Easy Green Lentil and Mushroom Lasagne

I love veggie lasagne but I am a bit lazy about it. Often the thought of making all the components puts me off. But this labour-light version (which includes a bit of cheating) has made it on to the regular weeknight rotation. The inspiration came from this Veggie Lasagne on the Hello Fresh website which is a good source of veggie recipes and inspiration.

As usual I’ve simplified the recipe a bit. Also, the first time I was making it things cropped up during the day which left me with very little time so I bought a tub of fresh cheese sauce from the supermarket. I would usually make my own but I really liked the flavour so now I ‘cheat’ every time.

I use tinned lentils here because it’s quick and easy but if you prefer to cook your own dried lentils I think the equivalent is about 150g dried lentils.

I like that the vegetable sauce gets all its flavour from the vegetables but, if you want to add more flavours, I would suggest any or all of a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes, 1-2 cloves of finely sliced garlic and/or 1-2 teaspoons of dried oregano.

The lentil and vegetable sauce would also make a good ‘bolognese sauce’ to serve with spaghetti or other pasta.

You can server this on its own or with a green salad and/or garlic bread

Green Lentil and Mushroom Lasagne

Servings 4

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion
  • 1 medium carrot about 100g
  • 150 g chestnut mushrooms
  • 400 g can of tomatoes
  • 400 g can of green or brown lentils
  • 350 g fresh cheese sauce (from the chiller section in the supermarket)
  • 125 g (approx) Fresh lasagne (how much you need depends on the shape of your dish – I use 4 sheets for mine – 3 layers plus a sheet chopped up to fill the gaps)
  • 40 g vegetarian Italian hard cheese, grated
  • Fresh basil and/or cherry tomatoes to garnish (optional)

Instructions

Lentil and vegetable sauce (you can do this stage in advance if you want)

  • Halve and finely slice the onion. Peel the carrot, slice quite thinly and then halve the slices. Chop the mushrooms into chunks.
  • Heat the olive oil over a medium heat.
  • Add the onion, carrot and mushrooms and cook gently stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.
  • Add the tinned tomatoes, stir and bring to the boil.
  • Drain the lentils and mix into the sauce.
  • Season with black pepper and take off the heat.

Putting the lasagne together

  • I use a 20cm x 22cm lasagne dish and it just fits!
  • Put half of the lentil and vegetable sauce in the bottom of the dish.
  • Cover with a sheet of pasta. You can cut up the sheets and piece them together to fit.
  • Spread over half the cheese sauce.
  • Cover with another layer of pasta.
  • Add the rest of the lentil and vegetable sauce.
  • Cover with a final layer of pasta.
  • Spread over the rest of the cheese sauce.
  • If I have any cherry tomatoes or basil in, I use them to decorate the top but it isn't at all essential.
  • Sprinkle the grated cheese over the top.

Cooking the lasagne

  • Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
  • If your dish is quite full, put it on a baking tray because it tends to bubble over!
  • Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. The lasagne should be bubbling and the cheese browned on top.
A note about salt

You might have noticed that I rarely mention salt in my recipes. I just don’t use it a lot. I’m sure a lot of people would think my cooking is ‘under seasoned’ but I have to watch my blood pressure and I’m used to not using much. There are some things, like rice, where I add a bit at the table but I rarely add it into my cooking.