Vegetable Lasagna

This lasagna packs in all the heartwarming richness you could hope for while being surprisingly healthy and full of 'hidden' vegetables. I made my pasta from scratch but this could easily be made with the lasagna sheets you can buy and bung in if you're short on time though making the pasta was surprisingly satisfying. This recipe makes around 6 generous portions of lasagna, ideal for batch cooking and freezing or feeding to friends like I did with mine. My friend happily confesses to despising aubergine but loved this dish as all the veggies are chopped small and create a great texture.  

Ingredients:

For the Pasta:

260g plain flour - 00 pasta flour if you can get it

1/2 tsp salt 

140ml water 

2 tbsp olive oil 

For the filling:

1 onion 

6 cloves garlic

1 large aubergine 

1 large courgette

1 bell pepper

12 approx chestnut mushrooms 

1 jar sundried tomatoes plus oil 

large handful basil 

salt and pepper

1 tub tomato passatta 

For the bechamel:

3 tbsp olive oil 

2 tbsp plain flour

2 cups milk - I used soy 

salt and pepper 

mozzarella - I used dairy free 

Method:

For the Pasta:

Combine the salt and flour in a large bowl and gently mix in the oil. Add the water and bring together to form a dough. Decant onto a well floured surface (or into a mixer with a dough hook) and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. Wrap gently and place in the fridge for at least an hour to rest. 

Once the dough has rested, cut into 4 pieces and gently roll each one out as thin as you can, turning half a turn after each roll. Place each piece on a floured surface out of the way. 

For the filling:

While the pasta rests, finely dice the onion, peppers, mushrooms, courgette and aubergine, keeping the onions seperate.  Place a large frying pan over a high heat. Mince the  garlic and lightly saute in some of the oil from the sundried tomatoes alongside the onion. Once these are translucent, add in the other diced vegetables with the rest of the tomato oil. Finely chop the sundried tomatoes and add these into the mix once the vegetables have started to soften. Continue to saute the vegetables until everything is soft then pour in the passatta and add the basil, finely chopped.  

Season with salt and pepper and leave over a medium heat to reduce and thicken until the sauce clings to the vegetables and is rich to taste. 

For the bechamel:

Pop the olive oil into a medium saucepan over a high heat until the oil starts to sizzle then stir in the flour to create a roux. Add the milk slowly, stirring all the time to avoid lumps. Turn down the heat and let the bechamel bubble away until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

For the assembly:

Preheat your oven to 160c. Grab a large lasagna dish and place a thick layer of the filling over the base, drizzle with a little bechamel and then carefully top with pasta. Repeat this process until you have used all the filling and pasta then spread the remaining bechamel sauce over the top and smother with cheese. 

Place in the oven for 20-30 minutes until the topping is bubbling and golden then serve with your favourite accompaniments. 

Please make this recipe and take a picture, I would love to see your creations, tag me using #diaryofadefectivehousewife. 

Enjoy!