Here’s a British version of the recipe that serves 6 for dinner:
Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Materials needed:
– Green lentils, 200g
– Vegetable oil, 2 tablespoons
– Diced brown onion, 1 unit
– Garlic cloves (crushed), 2 units
– Diced carrots, 2 units
– Diced ½ small celeriac
– Dried oregano, 1 teaspoon
– Dried basil, 1 teaspoon
– Tomato puree, 1 tablespoon
– One tin of chopped tomatoes
– Vegan vegetable stock, 500ml
– Caster sugar, 1 teaspoon
– Sea salt and pepper (to add flavour)
– Plant butter, 30g
– Cornflour, 2 tablespoons
– Oat milk, 400ml
– Vegan Dijon mustard, 1/2 tablespoon
– Ground nutmeg, 1/2 teaspoon
– Lemon juice from one small lemon
– Vegan lasagne sheets, 1 box
– Vegan cheddar cheese, 100g
To start, plunge the green lentils in a vessel, brimming with chilly water, and prepare your veggies. Heat vegetable oil in a broad fry pan. Next, toss the diced onion and garlic in, giving it two minutes before adding the diced carrots and celeriac. Stir frequently over the next 4-5 minutes until they start assuming a golden hue and soften. A sprinkle of oregano and basil goes in next, followed by the strained green lentils.
Add tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, vegetable stock, sugar, and your desired quantity of salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly and let simmer. Lower the heat and leave to cook undisturbed for 20-25 minutes. Give the mix an occasional stir. It’s ready once the sauce has thickened and the lentils are well-cooked. If the sauce turns overly viscose, add some water. Take off the heat once done.
While the combination of lentils is simmering, you can start preparing the plant-based béchamel sauce. To do this, position a small saucepan on the stovetop. Start by melting the vegetable spread, then combine it with the cornflour using a wooden spoon until a thick consistency is achieved. Follow this by pouring oat milk into the mixture. Allow it to heat under constant stirring to maintain a smooth texture, until the sauce reaches boiling point and rapidly thickens. At this stage, reduce the flame to a low simmer. Incorporate Dijon mustard, nutmeg, lemon juice, and a subtle touch of salt, whisking it thoroughly into the sauce. Check the flavour, making adjustments if necessary. If you find the sauce excessively thick, adding additional oat milk can return it to the right viscosity.
Set the oven to preheat at a temperature of 190 degrees Celsius. Thereafter, initiate the construction of the lasagne. Employ a medium-sized, rectangular baking tray, depositing two scoops of the lentil mixture evenly across the tray base. Arrange a single sheet layer of lasagne ensuring complete coverage, breaking pieces if required. Follow this with a layer utilising half of your lentil mixture, spreading it uniformly. Add another layer using lasagne sheets, succeeded by half of the prepared béchamel sauce. Generously fling a handful of vegan cheese over this layer of sauce, followed by another lasagne sheet layer. Distribute the remainder of the lentil mixture evenly, finalising with a last lasagne sheet layer. Top it off with all remaining béchamel sauce, and finish with a sprinkling of the leftover vegan cheese.
Carefully place the assembled lasagne in the oven to bake for a duration of 25-30 minutes. Once baked, remove from the oven and let it rest for five minutes prior to slicing and serving.