Sunday, May. 20, 2007, 10:20 p.m., Recipe: Lasagne, vegetable

Serves 2 (approx).
4 lasagne sheets, to fit loaf tin
Veg. mix:
1/2 medium onion, chopped
available veges in similar quantities, chopped; e.g. carrot, leek, courgette
2-4 tomatoes (to taste), quartered
black pepper
olive oil
herbs; e.g. garlic, chilli pepper, cumin seeds
Cheese sauce:
2 T butter
2 T plain flour
2 C milk
2-3 handful of grated cheddar/mozzarella cheese
seasoning; e.g. black pepper, parsley

1. Veg. Mix.
1. Heat the oil in a large pan, medium heat.
2. Saute the veg mix for 10min, starting with onion & garlic to infuse the oil and following with solids (e.g. carrot) to progressively soft (e.g. courgette, then sliced leek, then tomatoes).
3. Add the herbs when the mix is softenned. Saute 2-3min to allow the herbs to permeate through the mix.
2. Lasagne Sheets: Prepare the lasagne sheets as per the instructions.
3. Cheese Sauce:
1. Melt the butter in a separate small saucepan over gentle heat.
2. Stir in the flour lightly a little bit at a time so it does not stick to the pan.
3. Cook for 2min for the flour to be mixed in. (It will look slightly gritty in yellow sludge.) Remove from the heat and stir in the milk.
4. Return to the heat. Stir the sauce over low heat (slightly hotter than gentle) until it is thicker and smooth - approximately 5-10min dependent on the heat & stirring. (It will be thicker than the milk poured in.)
5. Stir in half the cheese to start with until most of it is melted, then the rest (although you may want to reserve some for the topping). Stir in the seasoning.
4. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
5. Make the lasagne by layering the loaf tin with veg mix, lasagne sheet, cheese sauce. End with the cheese sauce. (Allow 4 layers.)
6. Scatter the remaining cheese on top, if you have reserved it.
7. Bake in the oven for approx. 40min.

The leek & onion had a quite subtle flavour, which set off the cheesey taste of the sauce quite well.

I had some chopped capsicum in the lasagne (about 2 T) and thinly sliced the rest and put it on the serving plate as a bed for the lasagne. So when it came to the eating, the sliced capsicum was warmed and still had the crunchy sweet tangy taste.

I also put in one de-seeded chilli in the vege mix - I got a real surprise while I was distracted by the dinner entertainment...whew! Hopefully I should be healthy for the next few days.

The accompanying salad was Parsley, in the tabouleh style;
2 handfuls of parsley, finely chopped
2-3 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 shallot, finely chopped
dressing (to taste): cracked black pepper, olive oil, lemon juice
and then all well mixed together just before serving.

The cheese sauce overflowed the loaf tin I used so the oven will need cleaning :-(
Next time using the same tin, I would know to use less of the veg mix; or get a slightly bigger tin; or use less cheese sauce.

The "lasagne" took approximately 30min to prepare the chopped vegetables (also including the time used to decide on the veges to use), 10-20min to cook the mix, 10-15min to prepare the cheese sauce, 5-10min to put the lasagne together, 40min to cook in the oven. It was a late dinner but it is mainly non-heavy vegetables so it should be digestible before bed-time.

The Parsley salad was prepared in 40min as the lasagne was cooking in the oven.

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(c) Sockii