Recipe: Vegetarian Lasagne

Ingredients

We need 800g butternut pumpkin, peeled, cut into 1cm-thick slices

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium brown onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 medium red capsicum, chopped

2 medium zucchini, halved, sliced

1 medium eggplant, chopped

200g button mushrooms, thickly sliced

400g can diced tomatoes with oregano and basil

80g baby spinach

30g butter

2 tablespoons plain flour

2 cups reduced-fat milk

1 cup reduced-fat grated mozzarella cheese

125g dried lasagne pasta sheets

Method

Firstly, start with preheating the oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Arrange a baking tray with baking paper. Put pumpkin, on tray. Drizzle with 2 teaspoons oil. Bake for 20 minutes and keep it aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic, capsicum, zucchini, eggplant and mushroom. Cook for 10 minutes and stir in the tomato. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in spinach. Cover. Set aside for 2 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Now, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat until foaming. Add flour. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat. Gradually add milk, stirring to prevent lumps forming. Return pan to heat. Cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens. Remove pan from heat. Stir in half the cheese. Keep it aside.

Lightly grease a 7cm-deep square baking dish. Put the onion mixture into dish. Arrange half the pumpkin over onion mixture. Place half the lasagne sheets over pumpkin, breaking sheets to fit. Repeat layers. Add sauce over top. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 40 minutes or until golden. Kpp it aside for 10 minutes.

Your dish is ready to be served.