Vegan/Vegetarian Lasagne

In an attempt to reduce the amount of meat we eat, Saturday night this week has ended up a meat free night.  And as my daughter approved of a vegan recipe I was watching online (Living on the Veg) on the basis that it had pasta in it, Lasagne it is.

I have made a slightly smaller version of this recipe for the five of us, and used milk in the white sauce with a cheese topping.  But it could easily be made with anunsweetened non-dairy milk and without cheese.

Serves 4-6

For the ragu
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion
2 garlic cloves
1 stick of celery
1 large carrot
500g mushrooms
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp miso paste (optional)
1 tsp balsamic vinegar (optional)
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
150ml red wine
1 carton passata

For the white sauce
800ml milk, plant based if preferred
100ml plant based margarine
100g plain flour
Bay leaf

Lasagne sheets

Start by making the rage. Peel and roughly chop the onion.  Blitz in a food processor, or finely dice, the onion.  Start to gently fry in a large saucepan over a low heat whilst you prepare the other vegetables.

Next peel the carrot, roughly chop and blitz in the food processor with the roughly chopped celery. Add to the onions.

Quarter the mushrooms and blitz with the peeled garlic. Add to the gently frying vegetables and fry until the liquid starts coming out.

Simmer the liquid off for about 5 minutes then add the tomato paste, miso paste, soy sauce, and balsamic vinegar. Stir around well and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Add the red wine, bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 minutes before adding the passata and half a carton of recently boiled water.  Bring to the boil again and then simmer with the lid off while you make the white sauce.

In a separate saucepan add all the sauce ingredients over a medium heat. Incorporate everything by whisking gently every minute or so.  As soon as you feel the sauce thickening on the bottom of the pan, change from the whisk to a wooden spoon with a flat bottom and dislodge all the thickening sauce from the bottom of the pan.  Turn the heat down to low and stir pretty constantly still you have a smooth sauce.  Season to taste then turn off the heat.  Season the ragú to taste and turn the heat off that too, taking the pan lid off to let some of heat out.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

With the dish I used (which divides into 6 portions) I found that 2 large ladlefuls of ragu make a decent layer, followed by a large ladleful of white sauce evenly spread out, then a layer of lasagne sheets breaking them up if necessary to fill any gaps. Repeat two more times, ideally finish with a layer of pasta sheets covered in a thick layer white sauce. sprinkle with cheese if using.

Bake at 180C for 30-40 minutes until lightly browned on top and bubbling.  If at the end of this cooking time it is not golden brown,  put under the grill but watch very carefully.

Serve with a green salad.  Garlic bread should not be needed with all the extra pasta.

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