'I've spent too much on stamps so you're having yummy lentil lasagne' a recipe.
Ingredients:
200g (approx) red split lentils
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1 red pepper/pimiento
1 teaspoon mixed herbs or oregano (dried) or 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
No-need-to-presoak lasagne sheets (or you can blanch ordinary lasagne sheets in boiling water with 1 Tablespoon oil added for 4 minutes, but they stick together in a very annoying way so you have to peel them apart and spread them in 1 layer on a plate or a chopping board while you wait to use them)
Grated hard cheese - this is a good way to use dried-up Mousetrap cheese. Cheddar or Edam or any hard cheese will do.
For the bechamel sauce: 2 Tablespoons butter (approx) or oil
2 Tablespoons flour
about a pint of milk
grated cheese.
Make the bechamel first: melt the butter over a low heat, stir in the flour (you may need a bit more, you need enough to soak up the fat.) Off the heat, slowly add the milk, stirring. Put the pan on a medium heat and stir with a whisk until it thickens. It'll be a thinnish sauce, that's ok. Stir in half the cheese.
lentil sauce: cook shopped onion gently in some butter or oil. When it's soft add chopped pepper and herbs, stir until soft - about 3 - 5 minutes. Add lentils and tinned tomatoes and enough boiling water to come half an inch above the lentils. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Towards the end, stir quite a lot to stop it sticking. It may need up to 10 minutes more depending on the age of the lentils, because older ones take longer - you need to end up with a slightly sloppy sauce.
Layer lentils, lasagne, lentils, lasagne, bechamel in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle with cheese. bake in a medium-fast oven (160 to 170 degrees Centigrade) for 20 or 30 minutes until the pasta is soft and the sauces bubbling. Serve with a green salad and vinaigrette (1 part vinegar, 3 parts oil.)
The lentil sauce makes a good soup, if the veg are chopped small (I add carrots, too). I serve it with bread, usually made in my breadmaker. My breadmaker is fantastic, it paid for itself in 8 months and my family's still dead impressed when I produce a real loaf!
Hope you've enjoyed this, thanks for reading!
luv, Mags x
200g (approx) red split lentils
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 can tomatoes
1 red pepper/pimiento
1 teaspoon mixed herbs or oregano (dried) or 1 handful fresh basil, chopped
No-need-to-presoak lasagne sheets (or you can blanch ordinary lasagne sheets in boiling water with 1 Tablespoon oil added for 4 minutes, but they stick together in a very annoying way so you have to peel them apart and spread them in 1 layer on a plate or a chopping board while you wait to use them)
Grated hard cheese - this is a good way to use dried-up Mousetrap cheese. Cheddar or Edam or any hard cheese will do.
For the bechamel sauce: 2 Tablespoons butter (approx) or oil
2 Tablespoons flour
about a pint of milk
grated cheese.
Make the bechamel first: melt the butter over a low heat, stir in the flour (you may need a bit more, you need enough to soak up the fat.) Off the heat, slowly add the milk, stirring. Put the pan on a medium heat and stir with a whisk until it thickens. It'll be a thinnish sauce, that's ok. Stir in half the cheese.
lentil sauce: cook shopped onion gently in some butter or oil. When it's soft add chopped pepper and herbs, stir until soft - about 3 - 5 minutes. Add lentils and tinned tomatoes and enough boiling water to come half an inch above the lentils. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Towards the end, stir quite a lot to stop it sticking. It may need up to 10 minutes more depending on the age of the lentils, because older ones take longer - you need to end up with a slightly sloppy sauce.
Layer lentils, lasagne, lentils, lasagne, bechamel in an oven-proof dish. Sprinkle with cheese. bake in a medium-fast oven (160 to 170 degrees Centigrade) for 20 or 30 minutes until the pasta is soft and the sauces bubbling. Serve with a green salad and vinaigrette (1 part vinegar, 3 parts oil.)
The lentil sauce makes a good soup, if the veg are chopped small (I add carrots, too). I serve it with bread, usually made in my breadmaker. My breadmaker is fantastic, it paid for itself in 8 months and my family's still dead impressed when I produce a real loaf!
Hope you've enjoyed this, thanks for reading!
luv, Mags x
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