Vegetable Lasagne 

Not only is lasagne delicious, but it can also be super versatile. A great way to increase the number and variety of vegetables you are eating each day is to add a vegetarian twist to your favourite meals, such as a vegetable lasagne. You can vary the vegetables you put in depending on what you have available in the fridge.

And as a sneaky bonus, this week's recipe of the week includes not one, but two of the veggies that are included in activity 1! Kill two birds with one stone? Don't mind if we do!

Ingredients

For the sauce:

1 can brown lentils, drained and rinsed

1 can crushed tomatoes

2 tbspn tomato paste

3 small mushrooms, sliced thinly

1 clove garlic, crushed

1/4 onion, chopped

Generous slosh of red wine

Salt and pepper to taste

Your choice of herbs, we like oregano, basil and thyme.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

For the in between:

Wholemeal lasagne sheets

1 zucchini, thinly sliced length ways

1 small eggplant, thinly sliced length ways

EVOO

Ricotta

Grated cheese

Method

In a fry pan, heat EVOO and sauté onion and garlic until soft. Add lentils, mushroom, tomato paste, canned tomato, red wine and herbs and spices. Saute for approx 5 minutes, or until a thick sauce has formed.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 180C.

Whilst sauce is cooking, in a seperate fry pan, cook eggplant and zucchini until softened and slightly brown.

Take lasagne sheets, and in a deep casserole dish layer pasta, eggplant, zucchini and lentil tomato sauce until all used. Pending size of your dish, you may need two of these.

For the top layer, add a layer of pasta last, then top with ricotta, followed by grated cheese. Place lid of dish or cover with alfoil, and bake in oven for approx 40 minutes, or until cooked.

For the last 10 minutes, remove lid to brown the cheese.

Serves: 6

Tips: If you prefer a meatier style sauce, chop walnuts and add them to the mix with lentils. Or, if you would like to incorporate meat, mince works well. This recipe freezes really well, so make a double batch, to help with your meal and ingredient prep across the week!