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!

Pea and Lentil Fritters/Cakes

To serve 4-6

Ingredients

175g/6oz easy cook peas (e.g. Whitworth)
125g/4oz Red Split lentils
10ml/2tsp Mixed dried herbs
25g/1oz butter equivalent (we used PURE sunflower)
1 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 green pepper, deseeded and chopped
2 sticks celery, chopped
1 large garlic clove, skinned and chopped or crushed
1 egg, beaten
1.25ml / 1/4tsp cayenne pepper
30ml/2 tsp plain flour - we used Dove's Farm Plain Flour
salt and pepper

Method

1. Place peas, lentils, enough water to cover and herbs into a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer, partially cover and stir occasionally for 30-35 mins until dried peas and lentils are tender but peas are still whole. Drain off excess liquid.

2. Melt the margarine in a large frying pan. Add the onion, pepper, celery and garlic and cook gently for about 10 minutes until soft and almost transparent.

3. Turn the peas and lentils and the vegetable mixture into a large mixing bowl, allow to cool slightly before adding the remaining ingredients. Mix thoroughly.

4. Divide the mixture into 10-12 pieces and form each into a "cake" on a lightly floured board.

5. Fry gently for about 10 minutes each side or until golden and crisp outside. Drain on absorbent paper and serve with safe tomato sauce.

Mum made these today for the twins! Would also be delicious cold on a picnic or in a packed lunch.