Lasagna

Lasagna

Here you go! The lasagna recipe to rule them all! A big thank you to my friend Fed for sharing the initial recipe with me. It is great to have lasagna back in my life!

Fed serves this in a cake tin, which is an amazing idea as it gives it so many layers. I like to line my cake tin with greaseproof paper just to make sure everything stays in the tin. Feel free to use a baking/lasagna dish if you prefer.

I like to make this the day before eating, so the flavours can really come together. This also makes it great for entertaining guests as all you will need to do is reheat it in the oven (180c).

INGREDIENTS

For the red sauce

• 700 ml Passata

• 180ml Water (I put this in the empty passata jar and shake)

• 25g cashew nuts

• 1 tsp dried oregano

• Handful of fresh basil leaves

• Salt

• Pepper

For the white sauce

• 100g cashew nuts

• 280ml plant based milk

• Juice of half a lemon

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• Pinch of salt

• Pinch of black pepper

For the ragu

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

• 2 peppers, chopped

• 125g mushrooms, chopped

• 500g vegan mince, I used frozen soy mince

• 1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika

• 1 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce

• 1 tbsp soy/seasoning

• Plenty of freshly ground black pepper

• 2 big handfuls of baby leaf spinach (optional)

• Chopped black and green olives (Fed uses this in her original, I leave it out, so its up to you)

To assemble

• Wholewheat lasagna sheets

• Plant based mozzarella

• Cake tin or baking dish

METHOD

1. Soak the cashews in freshly boiled water and prepare all the vegetables for the ragu.

2. In a deep pan or casserole dish, over a medium heat, add a table spoon of olive oil and add the chopped onion and garlic. Cook until soft and translucent.

3. Increase the heat to medium/high and add the chopped mushrooms with a big pinch of salt. Stir regularly and cook until they have lost their water.

4. While the mushrooms are cooking, combine all the ingredients for the red sauce in a blender and blitz till smooth. You don’t need to season this as you will be adding seasoning to the ragu sauce later.

5. Once the mushrooms have cooked, add the soy mince (it is fine if it is frozen) and cook until it is starting to colour. Reduce the heat the medium and add the smoked paprika, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and olives if using. Cook for 1 minute before adding the red sauce from the blender. Stir and bring to a simmer. Taste for seasoning, adding salt and plenty of black pepper.

6. Cook the ragu for twenty minutes, adding more water if required, You want it to be thick and rich. Stir the spinach in and set aside until putting the lasagna together (you can do this a few hours later or even the next day).

7. Blend all the ingredients for the white sauce together. Pre-heat the oven to 180c

8. In your dish of choice, add a layer of the ragu so it just covers the base of the dish/tin. Add lasagna sheets (if using a cake tin break the sheets up so they can fit), white sauce (just enough to cover the lasagna sheets), a small sprinkle of grated mozzarella, ragu, lasagna sheets, repeating the process until all the ragu is used up, finishing off with a layer of lasagna sheets, white sauce and mozzarella.

9. Cover the lasagna with kitchen foil and bake for around 35 minutes in the oven. Take off the foil and increase the heat to 220c and cook for around 10 minuets. The top should start going golden and crisp.

10. Take out of the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving with a salad.