Quick, protein rich lasagne

Dairy free, gluten free, wheat free, soya free, could be egg free

Struggling for a quick and easy idea for tea, and inspired by a not dissimilar suggestion from our Facebook group, I made this.

Basically I mixed a can of Amy's Spanish Rice and Red Bean soup with some quinoa, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a little free from couscous. (optional)

Bring to the boil with enough water for the couscous and leave to cool. This is your "red lasagne sauce".  Now I was in a hurry so I didn't make a white sauce, just layered with free from pasta, finishing with a layer of breadcrumbs for a crispy topping. Then bake. It freezes really well, and the leftover sauce is great with rice, on a jacket potato or with pasta!

Only eight more weeks of rushing around like a loon until term starts, this is set to be a favourite speedy supper here!

Vegetarian, protein-rich Lasagne

This is by way of responding to the many requests for recipe details via social media, since I posted this last week!

I'm afraid it's going to be more of an advisory post, rather than a specific recipe, since I made a basic lasagne which was safe for my children rather than following a recipe to the letter.

Lasagne is made up of layers of pasta sheets, a meat or vegetarian tomato based sauce and white sauce, topped with a sprinkling of cheese. Or at least that's the regular version! So here are my versions of each layer, and I usually have pasta, veggie sauce, pasta, veggie sauce, white sauce, pasta, veggie sauce white sauce but that's only a personal preference.

Pasta Sheets
We like the Organ mini sheets, since they only need a quick boil on the hob and are so soft - but don't fall apart. The boxes have changed recently though so you might not spot them straight away!

Old box

new box!

White Sauce
I make my white sauce in the traditional manner. So same quantity of fat to flour (e.g. 3oz Pure Olive margarine to 3oz safe flour, warm to make a "roux" (whisk together) then gradually beat in your safe milk. Almond milk is great for cooking with, or hemp milk. There are also lots of other "milk" ideas here. Gradually heat (I do this in the microwave but check frequently) and keep stirring until a thick sauce is achieved. These substitutions will work in a regular white sauce recipe.

"Meat" or Veggie Sauce
This time I really cheated. I diced and fried an onion in a little oil, chopped the olives we had left over and tossed them in, added a can of Amy's soup (a few to choose from here ) and a can of chopped tomatoes. I often use soup in this way, Amy's soups are great and whilst not all are safe for us, they tend to be full of pulses and not at all watery.

Lastly I always have cans or fresh packets of pulses around, so I added some puy lentils. Then for flavour I added a little more basil, oregano and pepper.

Topping
I had considered grating some Violife cheese but this time went for a sprinkling of paprika for colour.

Bake at 180C for around half an hour and there you go! Freezes perfectly in portion size pieces too, perfect for speedy after school meals!

Gluten Free and low lactose courgette lasagne - could be adapted to be dairy free

Many thanks to Cath on the Facebook Group for sharing this recipe!

Ingredients: (to make 6 portions)

• 1kg of lean minced beef
• 3 medium-large onions
• 2 500g cartons of Passata (I use Cirio)
• 2 safe beef stock cubes (I recommend Telma kosher stock cubes if you can get them. Such a good taste. Otherwise whatever you can get hold of that works…)
• Brown sauce (I use Stokes because it’s GF)
• 3 large courgettes
• Olive oil
• Whatever cheese is best tolerated – lots of it, grated.
• TIP Redwood cheezly grates well if frozen first and there is a dairy and soya free version.
• Big pan
• Some oven dishes