Easy lentil lasagne recipe

This easy lentil lasagne recipe has been on of our favourite family meals throughout lockdown. I’ve been making a vegan lentil and veggie lasagne for years, which was always lovely, but making lasagne is a little time-consuming, would you agree? And since I felt I was cooking and providing food non-stop during lock-down, the last thing I wanted was to cook a recipe that takes quite a while. So with my Austrian efficiency 😉 I once again looked into cutting corners and making his recipe easier and quicker to put together. Without compromising on taste of course. And I can’t tell you how many tasty easy lentil lasagne recipes we have had and most of the time the kids and Tim kept asking for more! Which is music to my ears of course 🙂

Here are a few little tips fort making the easy lentil lasagne recipe:

1. Don’t worry about the list of ingredients looking a little lengthly. I place ALL my veggies into the food processor and give it a blizz. No chopping needed! It’s that easy. Give you veggies a good scrub, I leave the skin on my carrots for example, so no need to peel these either.
2. I make easy lentil lasagne recipe with a vegan béchamel sauce that Tim’s mum helped me create a few years ago. But if you ‘re not that bothered about making it vegan, you could always make a simple white sauce, like this one here.
3. Always make more. There’s nothing more rewarding than having a tasty and healthy meal ready for you waiting in the fridge. And we don’t mind eating the same dish twice. But if you do, then think about making up more just to freeze a few portions for the kids maybe? Always nice to have a few back-up portions waiting to be used.
4. To make this fully vegan you could add some yeast flakes to your white sauce. Or sprinkle layers of grated cheese in between your layers of white sauce, lentil and veg sauce and lasagne sheets.
5. Always check the cooking instructions on your lasagne sheets. I make sure they don’t need pre-boiling or soaking in hot water before layering as I just think that’s a faff. My favourite are brown rice lasagne sheets.
6. I love mixing red and green lentils. The red lentil will cook down into almost a puree anyway which is good and the green lentils just add a bit of a minced meat texture.

Easy lentil lasagne recipe

Recipe serves 6 + a small leftover lunch

Ingredients:

2 tbsp rapeseed oil or olive oil

1 onion

3 cloves garlic

5 stems celery

4 carrots

2 red peppers

1 large courgette

110g red split lentils

a handful of green lentils

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp

a little grated nutmeg

1lt. veggie stock

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

salt, pepper

1 packet of lasagne sheets

Optional: grated cheese or yeast flakes or sliced mozzarella to layer in between.

For the vegan white sauce, to make about 1/2 lt. you will need:

5 tbsp of a vegan spread, I use a brand called Pure

4 tbsp flour, I use a gluten free version or spelt

500ml dairy free milk, oat milk works well

1 tsp of  veggie stock powder

a squeeze of tomato puree

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 180 degree C.

Start by washing all your veggies, cutting off the end of carrots and peeling your onion and garlic. Cut into large pieces so that you can place them all into the food processor. Blizz until fairly small small. For my food processor it works better if I press pulse. Maybe try that.

In a large pan, heat your oil and once hot add all your mixed and chopped up veggies. Give it a good stir, add your herbs, tomato puree and give it all a good mix. Cook for another 2 minutes. Then add your lentils, chopped tomatoes, and pour over half the stock. Turn heat to medium and let cook with a lid on. Keep stirring every now and then and add more stock as the lentils will for sure need a bit more to soak it all up. Your sauce is done when the green lentils are cooked through. You’re aiming for a thick, porridge like consistency.

Meanwhile start by making your white sauce.

Heat 5 tbsp of olive spread in a pan. Once runny add 4 tbsp of spelt flour and stir until it forms a thick paste. Cook and stir for a few minutes as this will make the floury taste disappear. Then add some of the milk, stir and add more milk. You’re looking to creating a thick pancake- like mixture. Add your vegetable stock, a squeeze of tomato puree to add more flavour and season well.

If you choose not to pop cheese in between the layers of your lasagne, then add a good portion, like a cup full of yeast flakes to your white sauce. This will give it a super cheesy flavour! In a wonderful vegan way. Plus, if you buy the B12 fortified version you’re winning at life 😉 (Can you tell I’m a fan? ha ha)

To assemble your easy lentil lasagne, lightly oil an ovenproof serving dish and spoon over a third of the veggie and lentil sauce, then cover with lasagne sheets. Cover with a layer of the white sauce. Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta or until you have no more ingredients. The top layer should be your white sauce.

If you choose to use cheese of any kind, then you can sprinkle thin layers over the bechamel sauce when layering everything into your dish!

Pop into the oven and cook for 45 minutes or check your lasagne sheets instructions and cook as per guidance. This is a lovely dish for a family lunch for a weekend and even better heated the next day.

You couldn’t get more veggies on your kids plates in a more satisfying way than with this moorish lentil lasagne dish.

 

 

 

June 29, 2020Tags: easy lentil lasagne recipe, heathy lasagne, lasagne recipe, lentil lasagne, vegan lasagne, veggie lasagne