One Pot Stove Top Lentil Lasagne

Serve with crusty garlic bread.........

Another delicious and comforting pasta dish, super tasty with slow cooked tomato sauce and only one pot to wash up. I cooked the lentils and pasta right in the sauce to enhance the flavours. I've made mine with dried lentils, but you easily use tinned to cut down on cooking time by 15-20 mins.

This dish gives you a third of your daily fibre intake, even with white pasta, its low in saturated fat as it meat free and gives you 26g of protein, based on 5 portions (479 calories per filling portion). Add more protein, fibre and healthy fats if you pair with some yummy crusty wholemeal garlic bread made with olive or rapeseed oil.

I dry fried the mushrooms first, to bring our their lovely nutty flavour and added them back in later to heat through.

Feel free to adjust this recipe to incorporate your ragu or lasagne favourites.

Let me know how it goes!

Ingredients

Makes 4-5 portions

250g chestnut mushrooms - thickly sliced
1 tbsp cold pressed rapeseed or olive oil
3 small onions or 2 medium, finely diced
1 medium carrot, grated, peeling optional
2 peppers - any colour, cored, seeded and diced
3 Cloves Garlic, crushed
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
1 vegetable stock pot or cube
200g dried lentils, washed and rinsed
2 tins tomatoes
65g red lentils - optional but thickens the sauce and adds extra fibre
2 tsp dried oregano
Worcestershire Sauce
6 sheets dried lasagne
1 bunch fresh flat parsley
Small handful fresh basil leaves
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
100g Mozzarella - I used small balls
50g mature cheddar, grated

1. Dry fry mushrooms in large hot pan, turning occasionally until take on a slight colour. Place on a dish and put to one side until later.

2. Fry onions and carrot over a medium heat for 5 minutes without browning. Add pepper stir and fry for a further 5 mins, add garlic and fry for a few minutes more.

3. Add tomato puree and fry for 1 minute, add stock pot/cube and lentils, stir to coat. Add tinned tomatoes, breaking down with spoon if whole, half fill each tin with hot water and add to sauce. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add red lentils if using, oregano and a good few dashes of Worcestershire sauce, stir, add more water if getting too thick. Continue to cook for a further 30 minutes, snapping lasagne sheets in thirds and adding after 10 minutes. Stir and add more water when needed.

5, When lasagne sheets are cooked, add mushrooms, most of fresh herbs, taste and season, cover with cheese and top with leftover herbs. Place under a hot grill until cheese is browned and bubbling.

6. Serve with side salad and crusty bread, save leftovers and freeze for a future dinner or lunches.