Christmas Lasagne
We told you we had some Plant based Christmas food ideas up our sleeves didn't we! Well we don't break a promise when it comes to delicious vegan food. This is our delicious vegan Christmas Lasagne recipe, the perfect comfort food for this time of year. Lots of christmassy flavours, baked into a family favourite lasagne recipe. We love Christmas food and we love lasagne so we thought, why not combine the two? It's a dish full of festive goodness and is creamy and cheesy. The secret to this recipe is to use Mulled Wine for the ragu! So delicious and takes this dish to the NEXT LEVEL
Serves
Ingredients
For the roast vegetables
<item-todo-done>2 tbsp olive oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>500g Brussels sprouts<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>300g carrots<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>300g parsnips<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 sprig of rosemary<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 sprigs of thyme<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 garlic cloves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> Salt & pepper to taste<item-todo-done>
For the ragu
<item-todo-done>2 tbsp olive oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tbsp tomato purée<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 tbsp cranberry sauce<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> Salt & pepper to taste<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 red onions<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 carrots<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 celery stick<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>700g mushrooms<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 garlic cloves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 small sprig of rosemary<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 sprigs fresh thyme<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>4 sage leaves<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>300ml mulled wine<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>2 x 400g can(s) of chopped tomatoes<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 box of dried lasagne sheets<item-todo-done>
For the bechamel
<item-todo-done>125ml olive oil<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>125g flour<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 ½ nutritional yeast<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>1 ¼ litre unsweetened plant-based milk<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>½ tsp cinnamon<item-todo-done><item-todo-done>½ tsp nutmeg<item-todo-done><item-todo-done> cloves pinch of <item-todo-done><item-todo-done> Salt & pepper to taste<item-todo-done>
To assemble
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Before you start
Preheat the oven to 180°C | Food processor | Large saucepan | Deep ovenproof lasagne dish (roughly 25cm x 30cm) | 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper
Prepare the roast vegetables
- Peel the carrot and parsnips
- Slice the carrots and parsnips into ½ cm slices
- Cut the brussel sprouts into ½ slices
- Spread the carrots, garlic and parsnips over the baking sheets, drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle over some salt and pepper, spread the rosemary and thyme over the top of the vegetables
- Put the tray in the oven and bake for 20 minutes
- Take the trays out of the oven, sprinkle over the sprouts, mix them into the parsnips and carrots and put the trays back into the oven for 10 minutes
- Take the trays out of the oven, transfer the vegetables to a bowl and set to one side
Now, make the ragu
- Peel and quarter the onions, put them in a food processor and blitz until very finely chopped
- Peel the carrots
- Chop the carrots and celery into smaller pieces and blitz them in the food processor until finely chopped
- Put the mushrooms in the food processor and blitz into a mince (you may have to do this in batches)
- Peel and crush the garlic cloves
- Finely slice the sage, thyme and rosemary leaves
Make the filling
- Warm the olive oil in the pan over a medium heat, add the onions to the pan with a pinch of salt and stir for 5 minutes
- Add the carrots, celery, sage, rosemary and thyme to the pan and stir for 5 minutes
- Add the mushroom mince to the pan and stir for 5-7 minutes to sweat off most of the moisture
- Add the tomato puree and the cranberry sauce to the pan and stir for 1 minute
- Pour the mulled wine into the pan, turn up the heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated
- Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan, fill the tins with water, pour them into the pan and stir everything together
- Bring the pan to a light simmer and leave for 25-30 minutes
- Taste the ragu and season with salt and pepper
When the ragu is simmering, make the bechamel
- When the ragu is simmering, make the bechamel
- Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat
- Add the flour to the pan and stir for 3-5 minutes to make a thick roux
- Add the plant based milk to the pan, a small amount at a time, stirring constantly until all the milk has been used
- Once all the milk is in the pan, add the nutritional yeast and spices to the pan and stir it into the sauce until totally smooth, bring up to the boil, then simmer until the bechamel thickens and is the consistency of custard
- Taste the bechamel and season to perfection with salt and pepper
Now build the lasagne
- Spoon a quarter of the ragu into a deep ovenproof dish and spread it evenly
- Evenly sprinkle a quarter of the roast vegetables over the ragu
- Spoon over a quarter of the bechamel
- Place lasagne sheets over the bechamel, breaking them if necessary to make a complete and unbroken layer that will lock in the steam and properly cook the pasta
- Repeat this three times reserving some bechamel
- Finish with a good layer of bechamel covering the top completely
- Sprinkle a few rosemary sprigs on top for garnish
- Cover the lasagne in foil and put in the oven on the lowest shelf
- Bake for 50 minutes
- Remove the foil and bake for a further 15 minutes, then stand for 10 minutes before serving
- Serve with a side salad