It brings me great joy to serve my family and friends and observe expressions of delight upon their faces as we share a meal around my dinner table.

 

Serving family favourite meals, provides comfort and fulfilment as they bring people together. I like taking these opportunities to ‘healthify’ many of these family favourites to boost the nutritional content of the meal.

 

Cooking for a large family or group of people, it is important to me that the meals are delicious, nutritious and economical.

 

I like to use pantry and fridge staples as we don’t always have time to plan ahead nor go to the grocery store. These items are also budget friendly and more sustainable as we are reducing waste by using and adding in what we have on hand.

 

· Dried Legumes (lentils, beans and chickpeas – be sure to soak prior to cooking)

· Pasta and/or Lasagne Sheets

· Rice

· Liquid Vegetable Stock

· Passata (Tomato Puree)

· Mixture of Herbs and Spices

· Potatoes, Onions and Garlic

 

This Lentil and Mushroom Lasagne tastes amazing and is so versatile, you can add the vegetables you prefer and have on hand. It is a fibre rich, delicious comforting meal.

 

We served ours with mixed salad greens and thinly sliced pear with pomegranate molasses, olive oil and lemon juice dressing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 medium onions finely diced

6 large cloves of crushed garlic

3 large carrots finely diced

500g mushrooms peeled and thinly sliced

3 cups of cooked brown lentils (you can use canned, drained and rinsed)

700g jar of tomato passata

1 cup of water

2 tablespoons of dried mixed herbs

2 sprigs of fresh thyme (leaves peeled off and stems discarded)

1 teaspoon of salt

1 packet of large lasagne sheets (wholemeal for additional fibre)

 

Bechamel Sauce Ingredients

 

2 tablespoons butter

4 tablespoons of flour

2.5 cups of milk

3 large handfuls of grated cheese (reserve 1 handful for topping)

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

 

 

Add olive oil to the pan on medium heat

Add diced onion and stir

Cook 3 minutes or until almost caramelised

Add garlic, stir in and cook until just fragrant, 1 minute

Add carrots and stir. Cook for 1 minute whilst stirring

Turn heat to low

Cook for 3 minutes stirring occasionally

Add the sliced mushrooms and stir

Cook on low for five minutes, until all the flavours are combined and sweat off

Add the lentils and stir

Add in herbs and salt. Stir in

Pour in the passata and water

Stir to combine

Bring to the boil and then lower heat to simmer

Simmer for 10-15 minutes until sauce thickens and combines

Add salt to taste

Turn off heat.

 

 

Add butter to a saucepan and melt

Remove melted butter from heat. Slowly add in the flour and stir until all the flour has mixed with the butter

Add back to low heat and stir the butter/flour mixture for 2 minutes

Remove from heat and gradually pour the milk in

Whisk to combine. Return to low heat and whisk until smooth

Whisk continually as mixture will thicken

Add nutmeg

Stir in 2 large handfuls of grated cheese

Turn off heat. Stir until cheese is melted and sauce is nice and smooth and thickened.

 

Layer the lasagne

 

Add 2 ladles of lentil mixture to the bottom of a baking dish

Add lasagne sheets on top

Then ladle more lentil mixture in top

Add lasagne sheets

Add more lentil mixture until it is finished

Add layer of lasagne on top

Top with béchamel sauce

Add a large handful of cheese on top.

 

Bake in oven at 160 degrees for 30 minutes.

Then turn oven to 180 for 15 minutes until cheese is just browned and bubbling on top.

 

Leave to cool for 10 minutes before slicing so it holds together.

 

You can easily make gluten free, by using gluten free lasagne sheets (Latina Fresh). Remember to replace the flour in the béchamel with an all-purpose gluten free flour or buckwheat flour.