Vegetarian Lasagna Recipe

By Vera Arestakesyan

Now, who doesn’t like lasagna? I’d always ask for some every time I visit my aunt. The steam as you cut it, the crispy cheese on the top, the sauce oozing out… It’s just blissful!

I used this recipe to prove my father wrong. He’d always tell me “Some people try so hard to cook.” But then there it was; the confession of its wellness, from a person who doesn’t even like pasta!

Like most of the things I like to prepare, this could be made completely to your taste. Add some spices to the sauce, put some other vegetables, add some meat, it’s ultimately your choice. This one is vegetarian, and relies on the flavor of the veggies.

This recipe will serve 4 people. Enjoy this steamy meal!

Ingredients:

Dough:

– 2 1/2 cups flour

– 4 beaten eggs

– Pinch of salt

Sauce:

– 1 cup peas (I use frozen peas)        – 1 green capsicum              – Handful of parsley

– 2 tomatoes                                       – 1 red capsicum                  – 4 mushrooms

– 1 onion                                             – 1 red capsicum                 – 1 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste

– 2 tablespoons thyme                        – Ground black pepper        – Vegetable Oil

Béchamel:

– 2 cups milk                                                    – 2 tablespoons oil             – red pepper powder

– 3/4 cup cheese (parmesan/mozzarella)       – Ground black pepper

– 2 tablespoons flour                                      – 1/2 teaspoon curry

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350° F.
2. Put water in a saucepan and add a tablespoon of salt and oil, and heat.
3. Have the flour and the salt in a bowl and make a hole in the middle.
4. Beat the eggs in another bowl, and then add them to the hole in the flour.
5. Take a little flour from the outside and mix it with the egg, slowly taking more as you mix.
6. Knead the dough until smooth.
7. Leave to rest for 15 to 30 min.
8. Meanwhile, dice the capsicums and mushrooms into small cubes.
9. Rinse the peas and then add them to your cut vegetables.
10. Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to a pan and put in all your veggies, thyme, and half of your tomato paste, cover the pan and leave it to cook for around 15 minutes.
11. Dice your onion and tomatoes, but leave them separated.
12. Add about 2 tablespoons of oil to another pan and add the onion cubes.
13. When the onion is golden, add the tomato cubes and the tomato paste, and stir until the tomatoes are squishy.
14. Take your dough and roll it open until it is around 20×15 inches.
15. Cut 3×10 inch pieces. (I used a square pyrex dish 8 x8 inches- cut pieces to the dish size)
16. Line the lasagna noodles on your dish to form a layer.
17. Add your sauce on top.
18. Add some béchamel on top of the sauce.
19. Repeat until the dish is full. (Remember to put your noodles the opposite way each layer- in a crisscrossing manner.)
20. Put a final layer of lasagna noodles.
21. Add some cheese on top.
22. Pop into the oven for 20-30 minutes and watch the goodies cook!