Lasagna is easily one of my favorite meals. And honestly, what’s not to like? Row of pasta, row of bechamel, row of cheese and row of sauce. Pure perfection! As Garfield would oftenly say: I love lasagna! And I completely agree with him. Since I’m not eating meat for a while now (I eat it sometimes, but very, very rarely), I had to try out vegetable lasagna. And there is not a vegetable I haven’t tried it with. Bell peppers, tomato, carrots, zucchini…I tried them all and each and every one those was fantastic. But, lasagna with lentils and mushrooms is something that you reeeally have to try. I would go that far and dare to say that it’s better than lasagna with meat. After a few different attempts, I came to a recipe that has the best taste in my opinion. Those who tried it also agreed with my claim. So, let’s start with the recipe!
Ingredients for the “meat sauce”
500g of mushrooms, 1 can of brown lentils, 1 onion, 2 carrot, basil, thyme, tomato sauce or a can of sliced tomatoes.
Finely chop the onion and carrot and saute them in olive oil. After about 3 minutes add mushrooms. They should also be previously finely chopped in order to resemble minced meat. Saute the ingredients for another couple of minutes until the mushrooms release of of their excess water and it evaporates. Then add tomatoes, water, salt, pepper and spices. And don’t forget to add in a teaspoon of honey. Cook the sauce for about 20 minutes, then add lentils and cook for about another 10 minutes. When the sauce thickens, it’s over.
Bechamel
Bechamel is a really simple sauce and when you learn to make it, it will come in handy for other recipes, too. You can make it with cow’s milk and butter, but if you’re a vegan, substitute them with oat milk and sunflower oil.
50g of flour, 50g of butter or 2 spoons of oil, 600-700ml of hot cow’s milk or oat milk
Put flour into melted butter or oil. Fry it and stir constantly. While stirring, slowly add milk, this you will avoid those little lumps. Stir until bechamel gets thick, then add salt and pepper.
Now that your sauces are ready, it’s time to stack our lasagne. On the bottom of the tray, put an even layer of sauce, then a layer of lasagne, sauce, bechamel and then cheese(in case you’re a vegan, you can use a cheese substitute). Repeat these steps until you run out of sauce. The last layer should be a mushroom and lentil sauce, add grated cheese on top of it. Then put it in the oven heated at 180°C for about 40 minutes. When they get a a nice color and you can run your knife through the pasta, it means that your lasagne are done.
Enjoy and bon appetite!
