Vegetable Lasagne

This lasagne makes a tasty, satisfying meal, good enough to convince even the most vegetable-shy meat-eaters to get some of their five-a-day...

Makes 1 large or two smaller lasagnes (serves 6-8)

FOR THE FILLING:  

4 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped* 

Handful of green beans, finely chopped*

250 g punnet of mushrooms, finely chopped*

1 red pepper, finely chopped*

1 Spanish onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon Marmite

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 small tetrapak (210 g) tomato frito/passata

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium courgette, sliced lengthways

* (I use my Magimix food processor with the metal blade, giving it a few pulses to get a finely chopped consistency)

FOR THE TOPPING:

2 tablespoons salted butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

250 ml ± milk

180 g grated cheese

1 egg, beaten 

1.  Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large frying pan, fry the onions until softened. 

2.  Add the garlic and fry for a further minute or so. 

3.  Add the chopped pepper and fry, stirring, until softened. 

4.  Remove all from the pan to a bowl, set aside.

5.  Heat the remaining oil in the frying pan, add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, to sweat down. Remove to a sieve to drain, reserving juice.

6.  Add the chopped carrot and chopped beans to the frying pan, stirring for a couple of minutes to soften. 

7.  Add the Marmite, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and about half a cup of water. Stir, then cover and simmer gently for 5 minutes. 

8.  Add the tomato frito/passata, stir well and cover. Simmer gently for a further 5 minutes. Season to taste.

9.  Steam or microwave the courgette slices until just softened.

10.  For the topping, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour to make a roux. 

11.  Gradually add the milk and cook until thick. 

12.  Remove from heat, stir in the cheese to melt. Season to taste. Allow to cool slightly, then beat in the egg.

13.  Preheat the oven to 180°C fan. In a suitable ovenproof container, layer the filling mix, courgette slices and a spoonful of cheese sauce, repeating until you've used up the filling and courgette slices, and ending with a layer of cheese sauce. 

14.  Bake in the centre of the oven for ½ hour or until nicely browned.

Fruity Lamb Filo Spiral

Baharat is an aromatic & peppery spice mix of paprika, coriander, black pepper, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, cloves, nutmeg and cardamom. It imparts a fragrant heat to this fruity lamb pie.

(Serves 6)

1tbsp sunflower oil 

450g lamb mince 

2 tsp Baharat spice blend 

25g dried apricots, sliced 

25g dried cranberries 

25g flaked almonds + 1 tbsp extra, reserved 

Zest and juice of a small orange 

100g butter, melted 

1 pkt ready-to-use filo pastry

1.  Preheat the oven to 180°C and butter a 25cm loose-bottomed cake tin.

2.  Heat the sunflower oil in a pan, add the lamb mince and fry, stirring, over a medium-high heat for about 5 minutes or until nicely browned all over.

3.  Stir in the Baharat spice and cook for a further minute.

4.  Stir in the apricots, cranberries, almonds and zest of the orange, then add the orange juice and reduce heat to medium, cook for 5 minutes, stirring, until the liquid is reduced and the fruit is plump. Remove from heat.

5.  Lay out a single sheet of filo pastry with the short edge towards you. With a pastry brush, paint three lines of melted butter across the sheet, one top, one bottom and one middle.

6.  Spread a heaped tablespoonful of meat mix in a line about 2 cm in from the pastry edge closest to you. Roll up the pastry away from you to form a sausage shape.

7.  Lay the filo sausage, seam side down, into the edge of a buttered loose bottom cake pan, and repeat the rolls, filling the spiral to the centre.

8.  Brush with remaining butter and sprinkle on the reserved tablespoon of flaked almonds.

9.  Bake in the middle of the oven for about half an hour until golden and crispy.

10.  Allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before removing.

Serve hot or cold.