Try this vegetarian twist on this classic, hearty family meal – it’s ideal for the family or for socialising!
Ingredients:
2 large aubergines
100g butter
4 garlic cloves
6 shallots
400g chopped tomatoes, tins or fresh
15 lasagne sheets.
For the cheese sauce –
30g butter
30g plain flour
500ml whole milk
100g cheddar cheese
100g gruyere cheese
120g mozzarella cheese
50g vegetarian parmesan cheese.
You can pick up your cheese from one of our cheesemongers and you can get fresh milk and butter from here.
Method:
- Preheat your oven to 200c/180c fan/Gas Mark 6
- Peel and chop the aubergines, sprinkle them with salt and leave aside for half an hour. Rinse the salt off.
- Meanwhile, crush the garlic and finely dice the shallots.
- To create the ragu, melt the butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the vegetables and fry for 20 mins, stirring until cooked.
- Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt, set aside.
- To make the cheese sauce. Put the butter and flour in a pan over a medium heat and stir until it becomes a paste, cook for a further minute to cook out the taste of the flour, stir constantly.
- Slowly begin to add the milk and whisk so it comes together. Add the rest of the milk a little at a time whisking as you pour the milk until you have a smooth sauce.
- Reduce the heat and add most of the cheese and whisk until melted.
- In an oven proof dish, spread a third of the ragu over the bottom. Add three lasagne sheets then a third of the cheese sauce, then another layer of ragu. Repeat until all the sauce and ragu is used up, finish with a layer of grated cheese
- Bake for forty minutes until golden and bubbling
