VEGAN LASAGNE

Vegan, Gluten and Dairy free lasagne. 

I challenged myself to trial a few different vegetarian recipes that can be popped in the freezer for long work days where husbeast is responsible for filling plates. Otherwise his go-to is drive through Red Rooster chips and chicken.

Mealtime criteria in this house is a tricky one. Husbeast doesn’t like cheese or dairy, claims he’s allergic at restaurants which is quite embarrassing and untrue, more like a severe case of turophobia (fear of cheese).  Ryder seems to be following in dads footsteps with the fear of creamy white stuff, plus he also is very wary of vegetables he hasn’t formally approved, plus is gluten and diary intolerant (possibly coeliac). So I had to come up with a cheesy sauce that wasn’t cheese, pasta that wasn’t gluten and while I was at it, I thought i’d add an extra challenge of making it so delicious you wouldn’t even miss the meat! And I recon I nailed it! well the kids and husbeast thought so, so turdler approved!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Eggplant (slice longways quite thinly, spray each side with oil and bake for 20 minutes on 180 degrees)
• 1 box of gluten free pasta sheets 
• 3 tomatoes (thinly sliced)
• Onion powder

LENTIL “MEAT” SAUCE

• 1 cup – 170g red lentils
• 300g mushrooms (thinly sliced)
• 1 tbls tamari
• 400g tin tomatoes
• 140g tomato paste
• 1 tsp margoram
• 1 tsp oregano

1. Add all ingredients to a saucepan and cook for 10 minutes until the lentils are cooked. 

BECHAMEL SAUCE

• 200g cauliflower
• 1tsp salt
• 1/2 cup, 60g GF flour
• 2 cups – 370g almond milk
• 1/4 cup – 45g vegan butter
• 1/2 cup, 30g nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp – mustard powder
• white pepper to taste

1. Cut cauliflower into small florets and steam for 5 minutes or until soft. 
2. Puree the cauliflower in a food processor until silky smooth.
3. Add butter and flour to the pan and stir over a gentle heat. Be careful not to bring the butter to a sizzle as it will cook the flour.
4. Slowly add the almond milk until all combined and then add nutritional yeast, mustard powder and white pepper. 
5. Simmer for 5 minutes stirring frequently, the sauce will begin to thicken. The sauce will continue to thicken once it cools so keep that in mind.
6. Add the cauliflower puree and stir until all combined. 

LAYERING

In any glass or ceramic baking dish. Begin with a layer of egg plant, followed by the Lentil sauce, then the pasta, bechamel sauce. Repeat until you’ve run out of ingredients. Save some bechamel sauce for the top, add some grated vegan cheese and top with sliced tomatoes and a sprinkle of oregano and onion powder. 

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes or until golden on top and crispy edges.