Easy vegetarian lasagne… the family will love!

Serves: 6-8

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

 

Ingredients

Tomato-based Sauce
4 onions, diced
30ml olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons mixed herbs
1 tablespoon tomato paste (optional)
3 tins (400g each) crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
¼ cup water
Freshly cracked black pepper

Spinach Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 onions, diced
400g de-stemmed, chopped spinach
500g Ricotta Cheese
Salt and pepper

Lasagne
16 pieces lasagne
500g Mascarpone cheese, whipped
120g Parmesan, grated
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper

Method

Tomato-based sauce

1. In a large pot, heat the oil and once hot, add the onions. Sauté until soft. Now add the garlic and mixed herbs and cook for another 2 minutes, being careful not to let the garlic burn.
2. Add the tomato paste and cook for another minute or so.
3. Add the tinned tomatoes, sugar, salt, water and freshly cracked black pepper.
4. Allow to simmer on the stove top for an hour to an hour and a half to develop flavours and for the sharpness of the tomatoes to soften and sweeten.
5. Set aside.

Spinach Sauce

1. In a medium to large frying pan, heat the oil and once hot, add the onions and allow to sauté until soft.
2. In the meantime, steam the spinach in a double boiler until cooked (only takes a few minutes) or microwave in a covered container for 2-3 minutes. Drain the liquid and add to the onions. Add the ricotta cheese, salt and pepper to taste and mix through.
3. Using a handheld blender, blend until the spinach and ricotta mixture is relatively smooth and spreadable.

Layering Lasagne

1. In a medium-sized lasagne dish or rectangular ovenproof dish, add a layer of the tomato sauce followed by half the Parmesan then a layer of lasagne.
2. Add a layer of spinach sauce, topped with a third of the mascarpone and then another lasagne layer.
3. Add another layer of spinach sauce and another third mascarpone and another layer of lasagne.
4. Now add a thin layer of tomato sauce, a layer of lasagne and then the remaining tomato sauce and another third mascarpone. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan.
5. Cook for 30-35 minutes at 180°C until the lasagne is soft and the top is beautifully golden.

*Recipe courtesy of justeasyrecipes.co.za.