A classic lasagne has loads of meat and cheese to boost the flavour, but I want a healthy lasagne which will make my body happy. So, here’s my version — make in a shorter time, only vegetables, fully loaded with fibre, and yet, still very tasty.
My version of a steps-cut lasagne is nothing authentic, yet very easy to make and not compromising on flavour. As long as you have tomato sauce on hand, no matter it’s chopped, plum, or passata, it’s really easy to turn it into a delicious sauce for lasagna.
Like today, there are carrots, mushrooms, sweet peppers, tomatoes and spinach in the fridge. I then sautéed the onions with these mixed vegetables and a handful of frozen peas, seasoned simply, and a block of hot, flavoursome and healthy lasagne is ready for me.
A Secret Ingredient
In this recipe, I used tomato passata as a base and mixed with a wide variety of colourful vegetables. In between I had a taste test, felt like something is missing, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Then I remember a cookbook saying that tomato and soy sauce are actually a good match. So I added 1 teaspoon of soy sauce and tasted again. It’s almost there, and I added a little more sugar, and ‘Yes! That’s the taste I want!’
Variations
Lentils: As you may know, lentils are often the first choice of ragú’s substitution. It has no meat flavour (obviously), but its subtle sweetness is the most vegetarians sough-after. Add a handful of lentils to the sauce is a smart choice. Just add it with other vegetables and proceed as the recipe below.
Greek Yogurt: I sometimes add a dollop of Greek yogurt to the lasagna sauce to aim for a creamier texture, and a slight tartness to balance the overall flavour.
Seven-Colour Vegetarian Lasagne Recipe
The vegetable here is really up to you, but those has high water content is not recommended. I like to incorporate different colours of vegetable to the sauce for a more diversify diet.
Ingredients
Makes 1L glass container
- 3-4 lasagna sheets
- 50 g spinach
- 1 small carrot, diced
- 2 mushrooms, diced
- ½ sweet pepper, diced
- ½ onion, diced
- frozen peas
- 400 g tomato passata
- salt and pepper
- 1 tsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- cheese for baking
How to Make
- In a large frying pan, warm a tbsp of oil over medium-low heat and cook the onions until translucent. Add the carrots, mushrooms, and sweet peppers to cook for a few minutes till softened.
- Pour in the tomato passata, season with salt, pepper, sugar and soy sauce. Bring it to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in the spinach and frozen peas and cook for a further 3 minutes. Have a taste and adjust.
- Meanwhile, preheat oven to 200ºC (fan 180ºC).
- In a container, spoon in a ladleful of tomato sauce, then place atop a lasagna sheet, then again layer with sauce, until you use up all the sauce. Sprinkle in enough cheese on top.
- Place the container in oven for about 20 minutes, until the lasagna sheets are cooked through and the cheese turned golden brown.
