Meat Free Lasagne Recipe

Meat free lasagne can be served as a healthier alternative to the normal sort of lasagne that is more commonly made using meat. It is also a great choice for when you have friends round for dinner who are vegetarian or even for yourself if you're a fellow veggie or just like eating meat-free every now and again. It is also great for freezing if you have any left over or if you want to make a whole lot up for later on in the week. On the subject of freezing food -  Beko have recently created this special page to tell customers all about their unique Freezer Guard technology, which allows you to store your freezer in a garage or any other unheated room and your appliance will continue to work at temperatures as low as -15°C or 5°F. Which is brilliant for people like me who plan to put a freezer in their garage (or for those who already have one in theirs!). 

On to the recipe.. which is actually a recipe taken from The Quorn Kitchen book. It is my favourite vegetarian recipe book by far, we use it around 2-3 times every week to create the most yummy dinners. (If you tend to cook veggie, I truly recommend getting your hands on a copy if you're able to!) Quorn have come up with some of the most gorgeous dishes and this is just one of them..

Ingredients

• 500g Quorn mince or if you'd like you can use the supermarkets own meat-free mince

• 1 tbsp of olive oil 

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 2 cloves of crushed garlic

• 100g sliced mushrooms

• 400g tin chopped tomatoes

• 3 tbsp vegetarian red pesto (we use green as we can never find any vegetarian red pesto!)

• 1 tsp oregano

• 3 tbsp red wine

• 1 vegetable stock cube

• 2 tbsp fresh basil, shredded

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 8-10 lasagne sheets

• 25g butter or margarine

• 25g plain flour

• 300ml milk

• 100g mature cheddar cheese, grated plus extra for topping

• salt and freshly ground black pepper or ground white pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C, 400F, Gas Mark 6.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onion and garlic for 5 minutes until it has softened.
3. Add the mushrooms and cook for a couple of minutes.
4. Stir in the Quorn mince and then the tomatoes, vegetarian pesto, oregano, wine and vegetable stock cube. Increase the heat and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

5.Stir in the basil, season to taste then remove from the heat.

6. Make the white sauce by melting the butter, stir in the flour and cook gently for a minute stirring constantly. Slowly add the milk and reheat until beginning to thicken. At this stage add the cheese, season to taste and simmer gently for 2 minutes.

7. Spoon half of the mince mixture over the base of an ovenproof dish, top with lasagne sheets, repeat the layers, then pour over the cheese sauce and scatter with a little grated cheese and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the top is golden brown and bubbling

8. Serve immediately with salad or some tasty garlic bread if your prefer! And Enjoy! :)