In Good Taste: Going vego
Going vego
Lasagne is a popular vegetarian dish. As it feeds a crowd and is generally tasty I can understand why many people are seen with one under their arm as they head off to pot-luck dinners.
The richness of lasagne means that it is filling and satisfying and will keep you warm for hours on a frosty winter night. And unlike most pasta dishes, any leftovers can be reheated and enjoyed the next day for lunch.
Lasagne can be rather time-consuming to make if you’re doing it all from scratch; however, if you don’t mind taking the odd shortcut it can be assembled in a flash.
Recently we made this version and enjoyed it very much. We used homemade preserved tomato sauce and a punnet of pesto made and frozen a month ago. Both of these can of course be bought, and the finished dish will taste almost as good. As all the hard work is done beforehand, you can relax while it cooks to a golden bubbly crust, and put a few ingredients together for an accompanying salad.
The tender texture of lasagne calls for a crisp contrast. A salad of apple slices, celery, walnuts and some shavings of hard cheese mixed with some crunchy green leaves would be perfect.
Pesto Lasagne
1 packet of instant lasagne sheets
500g ricotta cheese
½ cup of pesto
300ml tomato sauce
1 cup of grated cheese
Mix the pesto and the ricotta together in a bowl. Pour a thin layer of tomato sauce into the base of a baking dish and cover with sheets of pasta. Spoon over half the pesto/ricotta mixture and spread evenly. Add more sheets of pasta and cover with a layer of tomato sauce. Continue with the layering until the final sheets of pasta have been laid. Cover with a generous layer of cheese and cover the dish with tinfoil.
Place into a pre-heated 180°C oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the tinfoil and continue baking for another 20 minutes, or until bubbling and golden brown. Remove from the oven and rest it for a few moments before serving with a crisp salad.
The ricotta works well in lasagne as it feels lighter on the tum yet retains a creaminess that keeps the recipe moist without being soggy. Pre-cooked pumpkin and some crumbled goat cheese stirred through a punnet of ricotta makes a good filling for lasagne, as does wilted silverbeet and crushed garlic.
If you are on a gluten–free diet then you can use rice paper sheets instead of pasta. These can be bought from Asian supermarkets. Just check the ingredients to make sure that the brand you choose doesn’t include wheat flour, as some do. To prepare the rice paper, have a bowl of warm water beside you and place two sheets at a time into the water for 30 seconds, or until soft. Remove and place the sheets on top of the vegetables or sauce, and continue layering as normal.
This is Jamie Oliver’s recipe for a rich and decadent lasagne using lovely autumn ingredients. It serves eight.
Mushroom and leek lasagne
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Knob of butter
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
4 leeks, thinly sliced
400g mushrooms, sliced
350g baby spinach, washed
Approx 250g dried instant lasagne sheets
1 cup of grated cheese
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C. In a frying pan melt the oil and butter, then add the onion, garlic and leek and cook until softened. Add the mushrooms and cook for about five minutes more. Now add the spinach and continue cooking until it wilts (just a few moments). Season and set aside while you make the béchamel sauce.
Mushroom and parmesan béchamel
750ml milk
250ml mushroom stock (or use vegetable if you have to)
1 small onion, peeled but left whole
2 bay leaves
100g butter
70g flour
60g parmesan, grated
Mix the milk with the mushroom stock in a pot, and add the onion and bay leaves. Heat and cook for four minutes but do not allow to boil.
In another pan over low heat melt the butter and stir in the flour. Keep stirring the mixture for a few minutes to cook the flour. This makes a roux. Now as the milk mixture just comes to the boil, pour it through a sieve into the roux and, using a whisk, keep it moving until the sauce thickens. Allow to bubble gently for a few minutes, still stirring, before turning the heat off and adding the parmesan. Taste for seasoning. Now stir through the reserved mushroom and leek mixture, mixing well.
Line the bottom of a two-litre ovenproof baking dish with a little sauce. Cover it with pasta sheets and then more sauce. Continue layering two more times, finishing with a layer of sauce. Sprinkle the cheese on top and bake for 40 minutes or until golden brown.
If you arrive at any party with a tray of this divine-smelling, golden cheesy lasagne, a crisp green salad and a bottle of Chianti you are guaranteed to be the star of the show.
Fiona Feasey
