This veg and lentil lasagne recipe is a new vegetarian favourite of mine. It’s simple, easy, and wholesome. It’s also ideal for stress-free hosting.
A few weeks ago we were having family over for dinner and the plan was to make chorizo and minced meat lasagne. Now, I’m glad to say that this doesn’t happen very often, but when it was time to cook I discovered that a few of the needed ingredients were missing.
The chorizo that I was certain I bought was nowhere to be found. I didn’t have quite enough of the required vegetables for the filling. And I wasn’t able to make the béchamel sauce because I’d used up all the butter. Quelle disastre!
Suffice to say, I improvised a lot that evening and a crisis was averted. Which would have been easily remedied with some fish and chips from the local chippie but I just really wanted to offer a homemade meal.
A few days later we were hosting again but this time one of the guests was a vegetarian. I decided to create a vegetarian version of that ‘improvised lasagne’ and THAT version is now one of my favourite vegetarian dinner recipes.
The ingredients are simple ingredients that you should be able to get in your local Aldi or Lidl. The steps are easy and quick. No thinking required. The result is a wholesome and delicious vegetarian lasagne.
It’s an ideal recipe for when you’re hosting and you want to make sure that cooking won’t take too much of your energy and attention. You can make it even easier by preparing it ahead of time and putting it in the fridge (or freezer). That way, you’ll only have to put it in the oven before the guests come!
If you would like to give this veg and lentil lasagne recipe a try then make sure to keep on reading. Or, if you prefer a visual aid, make sure to watch the video.
WATCH THE VIDEO
INGREDIENTS
Olive oil
Red onion
Garlic
Carrots
Courgettes
Red lentils
Dried thyme
Tomato puree
Chopped tomatoes – in cans
Red chilli flakes
Cottage cheese
Lasagne sheets
Grated cheddar cheese
HOW TO MAKE VEG AND LENTIL LASAGNE
1. Preparing the sauce
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
Finely chop the red onion (and garlic if you’re using fresh garlic). Fry the onion and garlic with olive oil in a deep frying pan until the onion softens. This will take around 3 minutes on a medium heat.
While the onion softens cut the courgettes and carrots in 1 cm cubes. Add the courgette and carrot to the frying pan when the 3 minutes are up. Continue to fry on medium heat until the courgettes and carrots are softened slightly.
Put the heat on low and add the red lentils, dried thyme, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, and red chilli flakes to the frying pan. Cook this for another 10 minutes.
2. Assembling the lasagne
Now it’s time to assemble the lasagne. Start with the sauce. Put lasagne sheets on top. Then add sauce and some of the cottage cheese. You should be able to repeat this two more times (so: lasagne sheets, sauce, lasagne sheets, sauce & cottage cheese, lasagne sheets, sauce, lasagne sheets, sauce & cottage cheese).
I don’t spread the cottage cheese all over the sauce. I make sure to put 4/5 tablespoons per layer (the layers where I add both sauce and cottage cheese that is). Check the video for visual explanation. Please be aware that you’ll start to run low on cottage cheese by the last layer. Here I add a little bit of water (2-3 tablespoons) to thin the cottage cheese and to make it easier to spread.
Spread the grated cheddar cheese on top of the cottage cheese.
3. Bake or store to bake later
Put the dish in the oven on a shelf in the middle. Bake for around 30-40 minutes covered with foil. Keep an eye on the dish and take out when the cheese on top is nice and golden brown.
OR cool the lasagne for 30-60 minutes. Then wrap tightly with cling film or silver foil. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or put in the freezer for up to 3 months. Please keep in mind that this will affect the length of baking time.
Veg and Lentil Lasagne with Cottage Cheese
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 medium red onion if you're using a small red onion that comes in a netted bag with usually around 5 onions, make sure to go for a full onion
- 2 tsp pre-chopped garlic I'm in my pre-chopped garlic season for convenience but if you prefer fresh garlic, you'll need 2 cloves
- 2 large carrots you'll need 4 if you have medium-sized carrots
- 1 1/2 small courgettes you'll need 1 if you have a larger courgette
- 100 grams red lentils 1/2 cup
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 cans chopped tomatoes
- 1/2 – 1 tsp red chilli flakes
- 300 grams cottage cheese 1 1/3 cup
- 12 lasagne sheets I use the dried kind, the amount of sheets you'll need might differ depending on the size of your oven dish
- grated cheddar cheese
Instructions
1. Preparing the sauce
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
- Finely chop the red onion (and garlic if you're using fresh garlic). Fry the onion and garlic with olive oil in a deep frying pan until the onion softens. This will take around 3 minutes on a medium heat.
- While the onion softens cut the courgettes and carrots in 1 cm cubes. Add the courgette and carrot to the frying pan when the 3 minutes are up. Continue to fry on medium heat until the courgettes and carrots are softened slightly.
- Put the heat on low and add the red lentils, dried thyme, tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, and red chilli flakes to the frying pan. Cook this for another 10 minutes.
2. Assembling the lasagne
- Now it's time to assemble the lasagne. Start with the sauce. Put lasagne sheets on top. Then add sauce and some of the cottage cheese. You should be able to repeat this two more times (so: lasagne sheets, sauce, lasagne sheets, sauce & cottage cheese, lasagne sheets, sauce, lasagne sheets, sauce & cottage cheese).
- I don't spread the cottage cheese all over the sauce. I make sure to put 4/5 tablespoons per layer (the layers where I add both sauce and cottage cheese that is). Check the video for visual explanation. Please be aware that you'll start to run low on cottage cheese by the last layer. Here I add a little bit of water (2-3 tablespoons) to thin the cottage cheese and to make it easier to spread.
- Spread the grated cheddar cheese on top of the cottage cheese.
3. Bake or store to bake later
- Put the dish in the oven on a shelf in the middle. Bake for around 30-40 minutes covered with foil. Keep an eye on the dish and take out when the cheese on top is nice and golden brown.
- OR cool the lasagne for 30-60 minutes. Then wrap tightly with cling film or silver foil. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or put in the freezer for up to 3 months. Please keep in mind that this will affect the length of baking time.
