Tom Woodward said:
I work in hospitality and their attitude to waste is disgusting, not to mention recycling!
Vegetable Lasagne
This recipe can be doubled up and prepared in advance or frozen in individual portions. If you have trouble getting your children to eat vegetables, cut them into smaller dice and they often won’t know they are there. You could use most vegetables that need using up from the fridge such as broccoli, carrot, butternut squash, cabbage, cauliflower, marrow, leeks, babycorn, sweetcorn, peas… the list goes on.
Ingredients show imperial units
Serves 8-10
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Olive oil
Usually the darker green the oil, the richer the flavour.
- Extra virgin olive oil is good for drizzling on salads and should never be heated as this destroys the fine properties
- Lighter olive oil is good for adding to bread, or to flavour a salad or marinade for chicken, meat, fish or vegetables. Lighter olive oil can be gently heated and added to marinades and baking.
- 4 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 4 small courgettes, cut into 2.5cm dice
- 2 small peppers, cored and cut into 2.5cm squares
- 300g butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 large leeks, cut into discs, optional
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2×400g tins of chopped tomatoes
Canned chopped tomatoes
Great for instant pizza sauce, pasta, curry sauces.
- The tomatoes will keep for up to a week, but don’t store them in the opened tin because the metal will start to rust and spoil the food. Instead, tip the tomatoes into a plastic container, cover with a lid, or clingfilm and store in the fridge.
- Alternatively, put the tomatoes in a freezer-proof container and freeze for up to 12 months.
- Salt
Salt
Consider tablesalt, sea salt or crystals.
Sea salt’s pronounced and salty flavour means less is required to season food.
- Ground black pepper
Black peppercorns
Best used as a condiment.
They can be lightly crushed and used to spice up a creamy sauce or to coat fillet steak or chicken breasts.- Although it might seem odd, grinding black pepper over a bowl of strawberries enhances the flavour of the fruit.
- Pepper that is pre-ground is not fresh tasting and often has other ingredients mixed in.
- Choose the type of mill that suits you, and if you want coarser pepper you can loosen the screw on the top of the mill or crush the seeds in a pestle and mortar
- 600ml water or vegetable stock
Stocks
Made from your meat and fish bones.
Frozen in ice cubes for gravies, risotto and cooking rice. Once frozen, remove from the ice trays and pack into freezer bags. Use stock powder or cubes if you do not have any home made available.
- 80g butter
Butter
Unsalted is better for cooking.
Easy spread butter is ideal for sandwiches and toast.
- 70g plain flour
Flour
For pastry making or to thicken sauces, soups, stews and casseroles.
- Raising agents are added to plain flour to make self-raising flour, used to lighten and give an airy texture to cakes and sponges.
- Once opened reseal with quick clips or transfer to an airtight container or kilner jar. It will keep for up to 3-4 months
- 1.2 litres milk
Milk
organic, full fat, semi-skimmed.
If milk turns sour (and this when it smells or tastes sour not when it has reached the best before date) it is excellent for making scones
- 1 teaspoon mustard
Mustard
Worth keeping a few different types.
- French mustard or Dijon is creamy and can be used in dressings, marinades or adding to sauces.
- English is good for roast beef, steak, gammon or sizzling sausages.
- Wholegrain is used in chutney’s and pickles
- 250g Cheddar cheese , grated
Cheese
Add to eggs for omelettes, grate onto soups or salads.
- Parmesan often goes rock hard or becomes horribly sweaty. Ideally, all cheese should be stored in a cool, airy place at a temperature of 46-50F/8-10C. However, most of us put it straight into the fridge. This is fine providing the cheese is kept loosely wrapped in its own airtight container so it isn’t tainted by other foods.
- Store it in the salad drawer, which is not quite as cold as the rest of the fridge and use a micro plane for grating.
- 450g pre-cooked lasagne
- Grated pumpkin seeds
-
8 tablespoons Tomato puree
Tomato puree
Concentrate made from paste type tomatoes that have high pectin content.
When they’re cooked down, they’re put through a strainer to remove skins and seeds, and reduced further until almost all of the moisture has evaporated. Usually a recipe will call for a tablespoon or two, just enough to enrich a beef stew, for instance, or to deepen the flavour of a sauce made with fresh tomatoes.
Instructions
- Preheat the oven 180°C (350°F) mark 4. Grease a deep ovenproof dish, or individual dishes with a little oil.
- In a frying pan cook the onions, courgettes, peppers, butternut squash, leeks (if using) and garlic in the remaining oil for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, seasoning and water or stock. Bubble for 10-15 minutes.
- To make the sauce, place butter, flour, milk and mustard in a small saucepan and whisk continuously over a medium heat until the sauce begins to boil and thicken. Turn down the heat to its lowest and let the sauce cook for 2 minutes. Add the grated cheese.
- Into the baking dish pour one quarter of the white sauce, followed by one third of the vegetable mixture. Sprinkle in a third of the cheese and follow this with a single layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat this process, ending up with a final layer of sauce and a good sprinkling of cheese and the pumpkin seeds for added crunch.
- Cook in the oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
