Vegetable Lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna

Vegetable Lasagna - Layered Pasta with vegetables in a delicious
cheese sauce

I have always loved the smell when I bake pasta. The aroma of rich cheese melting in the warmth of the oven fills your home in no time. Lasagna was one recipe that I tried to avoid as it has always seemed too complex. I couldn't resist trying it out after I had it in a Pizza Express when I visited the Cambridge. 

Watched lasagna making videos online on youtube and finally mustered the courage to try out this delicacy at home. I did not want to make it a non-veg pasta and chose vegetables instead. You could easily alter the recipe with chicken or cooked meat instead of the vegetables.

Here is my super easy recipe for lasagna. 

Ingredients

For Bechamel sauce

2 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoon plain flour
150 ml milk
salt and pepper to taste
spices, if preferred

For the vegetable sauce

2 cups chopped vegetables
1 cup pureed fresh tomatoes 
1 onion chopped
salt and spices to taste


For assembling
Instant lasagna sheets
Parmesan cheese 2 tablespoon
Grated mature cheddar 2 tablespoon


Method:

For lasagna, I made two sauces. One is bechamel sauce and other is a mixed vegetable sauce. The basic steps of making lasagna are:

1. Prepare your sauces
2. Layer them with the lasagna sheets
3. Bake it
4. Relish! 

For bechamel sauce, take a spoon butter in a pan and add one tsp flour, add the milk n let it thicken. Add salt, spices and pepper to taste. I added a pinch of dried basil.

For the vegetable sauce, saute onions n chopped vegetables. I used carrot n  beans but you can add any veggies. Add pureed fresh tomatoes and let it simmer and thicken. when the sauce is thick, add salt and spices. Remove from fire.

Layering:

When you choose a baking pan, choose something that would fit your lasagna sheets without breaking them. I used a loaf pan as I cooked just for the kids. First, apply some butter or oil to make sure that the pasta would not stick to the pan. Add the vegetable sauce and keep the first layer of pasta. Then, add a layer of bechamel sauce and add vegetable sauce over it. Add the grated cheese and cover it again with a pasta layer. Layer it again till the pan is 3/4th full.

Now, top it with a layer of freshly grated cheese. Cover it with foil and bake it for 20 minutes on 180 deg.

After 20 minutes, remove foil and bake it for another 15 minutes to make it bubbly and crisp on top.

Vegetable Lasagna is ready to relish!

Notes:

Many recipes on the internet seem too complex. I have tried to simplify it by making a single sauce with the vegetables and tomatoes. You could even make the sauce a single one by adding cream to it.

If you are concerned about calories, you can substitute butter with oil and milk with fat free milk.

Creamy Mushroom Curry

Yummy Mushrooms Served With Rice

I come from a family where they don't cook mushrooms! My Granny thinks that they are only part of the fungus group that grows in a dirty way! It was funny making her understand that mushrooms were edible and can be cooked into a very tasty dish. I told her my recipe on the phone and she was excited about it.

Here is my recipe for the Creamy Mushroom curry:

Ingredients

Mushroom - 1 Packet

Onions - 1 small, finely chopped

Green Chillies - 3 or 4 (Reduce it if you cannot take spicy food)

Butter - 1 tbsp

Three Cream Pasta Sauce - 2 Tbsp

Oil - To sautee

Oregano, salt and pepper - To Taste


How To Proceed

• On a pan, add oil and heat it to medium
• Add the green chillies and onions. Saute it till they brown at the edges.
• Add the mushrooms (I cut them into two halves, you can chop them into smaller pieces or add them as whole if they are button sized)
• When the mushrooms brown, and water oozes from them, reduce the heat.
• Add 2 tablespoons of Three cream pasta sauce and one tablespoon of butter
• Let it cook till the you get a nice aroma of creamy mushrooms. 
• Add Oregano, salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve it hot with rice or roti or bread of your choice

Note

I love them when they are hot. It tastes very good on a cold winter afternoon. If you do not have the pasta sauce, you can add shredded cheddar cheese and a little milk mixed with cornstarch. It will give you the same taste. If you do not have cornstarch, you can add a little all-purpose flour as well.