Roast Vegetable Lasagne.

 

I love Roast Vegetable Lasagne and I usually order it whenever I go out anywhere as long as it's on the menu. I've always struggled to find a really tasty recipe of my own though. They always tasted okay but, the flavour was always a bit subtle and bland which, was the same for my Macaroni cheese. Recently I've worked on both recipes though and I have managed to come up with two recipes which I really like and which are full of flavour. This is a bit of a cheats lasagne really in terms of my roast vegetable filling as I buy a bag of frozen Grilled Meditteranean Roast Vegetables with Cherry Tomatoes from Tesco which, is absoloutely delicious. I buy it because it is so yummy and I think it would also work out cheaper than buying all the individual vegetables that come in it which will be handy for University next year aswell. By all means though roast your own vegetables and I should probably work on doing that myself to make it more homemade. Roast vegetables always taste lovely and I make my own roast vegetables all the time anyway. I make a Gnocchi Bake containing my own roast vegetables too which I actually like more than my lasagne as its full of flavour and I will post that recipe next time I make it too so, maybe I should roast my own vegetables for my lasagne as it might make this recipe even nicer.

 

This lasagne is lovely and warming for the winter days and is rich, creamy and delicious. I make my own tomato and basil sauce which is lovely and can also be used as a lovely basic tomato sauce for other pasta dishes and then I also make a basic white roux sauce aswell and top the lasgne with lots of tasty grated cheddar. Isn't cheese incredible?

 

This last time I made it I actually got a little inpatient and took it out of the oven before the cheese topping had bronzed a bit as I was really hungry and you can see that in the pictures. I would recommend trying to wait until it does brown a bit though as it creates a lovely flavour and provides an attractive finish. It's very difficult to wait though as it smells gorgeous cooking in the oven! I also always have a nice big slice with some garlic bread as I love garlic bread. I'd like to maybe try and make some home-made garlic bread myself soon too actually.

Recipe

Bag or tray of tasty frozen or fresh roast vegetables from the supermarket or roast your own vegetables in 1tbsp. olive oil such as; 1 Courgette, 1 Red Pepper, 1 Yellow Pepper, 1 Red Onion, 10 Cherry Tomatoes, 1/2 Aubergine etc. or whatever roast vegetables you like. Roast parsnips, carrot, sweet potato and asparagus are also lovely.
White Roux Sauce
50g Plain Flour
50g Butter
600ml Semi-skimmed milk
Pinch of salt and pepper
Tomato and Basil Sauce
2 tbsp. Olive oil
2 Cloves of garlic
2x Tins of (400g) Chopped Tomatoes
1 Crumbled Stock Cube
2 tbsp. Tomato Puree
1 tsp. Sugar
Handful of basil leaves

6 Fresh Egg Lasagne Sheets (I use Tesco's 250g Pack)
100g Grated Cheddar Cheese

1. First roast your chosen vegetables. I fry my bag of Tesco frozen vegetables in 1tbsp. olive oil until they are cooked through and soft. You could also obviously roast them in olive oil in a tray in the oven until cooked. If you are roasting your own vegetables, peel and chop them, place them in a casserole dish and drizzle over olive oil. Place them in the oven at 200C and roast for about 30 to 40 minutes (depending on the vegetables you have chosen) until the vegetables are soft and lightly browned. Carrots, potaoes and parsnips would take longer to roast than other vegetables for example.
2. Next prepare the tomato and basil sauce. Crush the garlic or chop it finely and fry for about 2 minutes in the olive oil. Add the tins of chopped tomatoes, crushed stock cube, sugar and tomato puree, stir and simmer gently on a medium heat until warmed though. Finally, add a generous handful of torn, fresh basil leaves and stir into the sauce before setting aside to prepare the white sauce.
3. Then prepare the white roux sauce. Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat and stir the flour into the melted butter, remaining over the heat for about a minute. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the warm milk a bit at a time to make a smooth, glossy paste free from lumps. Finally add the remaining milk and stir. Return to the heat and simmer gently until the sauce thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Once thick remove from the heat and again set aside. 
4. Now assemble the lasagne. Arrange a layer of vegetables on the bottom of the casserole dish and top with a third of the tomato sauce. Place 2 lasagne sheets on top and then drizzle over some white sauce before repeating until you have 3 layers of lasagne. Finally, scatter the grated cheese over the final layer of white sauce and place in the oven for about 25-30 minutes to warm through and bake until bubbling and golden.


5. Serve with your favourite crusty, yummy garlic bread.
Perfect.

 

 

 

Thankyou for reading!

 

Love Courts x