My veggie lasagne recipe for dave gorman

Veggie Lasagne

First, prepare the 3 components:

Regular tomato sauce – gently sweat one small chopped onion to each tin tomatoes (I usually use about 3 tins) in olive oil. Add tomatoes, red wine, vinegar, sugar, salt, pepper and let it reduce down for 30mins or so. Blitz to make it a bit smoother, but not too smooth.

Spinach and mushroom layer – slice about 8 field or Portobello mushrooms quite thickly. Fry in butter/olive oil and add a squeeze of lemon juice. Don’t let the mushrooms get too well cooked. Do this in batches. Drain each batch in a colander and reserve the liquid. When all the mushrooms are cooked, wilt a good batch of shredded spinach (or 2 bags of baby spinach) over a low heat (don’t add water, the water on the spinach from washing it will be enough).

Béchamel sauce – melt a big knob of butter (50g) over a low heat. Add about 2 or 3 tablespoons flour and blend with the butter. Slowly add milk and whisk continuously as it thickens. Add about a yogurt pot sized amount of cream and the liquid from the mushrooms. Season with salt and nutmeg. Don't make the sauce too thick (more like a double cream consistency)

Next, assemble the dish:

Start with
• a layer of tomato sauce (and maybe an extra slosh of olive oil to prevent sticking)
• then a sheet of lasagne
• then scatter on a mushroom and spinach layer, drizzled with the béchamel sauce
• then another lasagne sheet
• repeat to use up all ingredients and finish with a layer of tomato sauce topped with the béchamel sauce

Somewhere along the way, throw in a layer of basil leaves. Bake for about 40mins@ 180 degrees (cover with foil or lid for the first 30mins. Use fresh lasagne sheets rather than dried. Let it stand for 5 mins or so before serving.