Recipes

Lee's wife Lynda is the master chef behind this incredibly tasty lasagne dish. This particular version is the vegetarian one. It serves 6 and takes around an hour to make. But well worth it.

Ingredients:

• 2 x tsp olive oil
• 1 x medium onion finely (chopped)
• 2 x garlic cloves crushed
• 1 x medium red capsicum (chopped)
• 2 x medium carrots (sliced)
• 2 x medium zucchinis (sliced)
• 200 grams sliced mushrooms
• 2 x 700 gram jars of good quality pasta sauce
• 200 grams baby spinach leaves
• 250 gluten free dried lasagne sheets (eg: San Remo Lasagne Sheets)
• 1 x tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 x tsp dried basil
• 1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 300 grams of ricotta cheese
• 3 x tbsps of milk
• Salt and pepper

Method:

• Pre Heat your oven to around 200 degrees Celsius.
• On cook top use a large saucepan and heat your 2 teaspoons of oil and cook the finely chopped onions for a few minutes until translucent.
• Add the 2 cloves of garlic and cook a couple of minutes longer.
• Add your capsicum, zucchini, carrots and mushrooms to the pot and cook/fry them for a few minutes to help them soften up.
• Pour in your 2 jars of quality pasta sauce and let the whole lot simmer for around 15 to 20 minutes. Stir occasionally so the vegetables don't burn.
• Add mixed herbs and basil once the pasta sauce is mixed through the vegetables.
• The secret here is using fairly hard vegetables that won’t collapse when made into a lasagne.
• Add your spinach and cook for a further 2-4 minutes. (It only needs to wilt. It will continue to cook in the oven).
• Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper to taste.
• Now you are ready to start assembling your lasagne in square oven proof Pyrex dish (About 8-10 inches square will do nicely).

Assembling Your Lasagne

• Spoon a little sauce in the bottom of the oven proof dish.
• Top with a layer of dry lasagne sheets.
• Spoon in half the vegetable/pasta mixture
• Apply another layer of dry lasagne sheets
• Spoon the remaining half of the vegetable/pasta mixture
• Apply another layer of dry lasagne sheets

Use Ricotta & Milk Instead Of White Sauce

• Grab a fork and in a small bowl mix your 300 grams of ricotta cheese with the 3 tablespoons of milk. Add salt and pepper.
• Apply the ricotta as your top layer as a substitute for white sauce.
• Finish off by adding applying a liberal layer of grated cheddar cheese to the very top of the lasagne.

Cooking:

• Pop the lasagne in the oven and 45 minutes.
• If your top cheese layer begins to burn, just sit a piece of aluminium foil on top.
• Let it sit for a few minutes on a rack to cool before cutting and serving.
• This is a really lovely rich lasagne. Even if you don't typically like vegetarian dishes, I guarantee you'll be coming back for seconds of this one.
• Serve with friends and a your favourite bottle of Cab Sav - Well we certainly do :-) 

Lee Wade

http://www.tjuz.com/