By replacing the regular lasagne sheets with vegetable layers you are packing this delicious Italian speciality with so much veggie goodness, you will not even notice the pasta is missing.
Prep time – 30min
Cooking time – 30mins
Serves – 6
Pre-heat oven to 180°C
What you'll need:
Beef Filling
- 1 tsp coconut oil
- 750g Aberdeen Angus Mince
- 2 x onions – diced
- 3 x garlic cloves – crushed
- 1 x red chilli – finely chopped (optional)
- 2 x tbsp tomato puree
- 1 x tbsp oregano
- 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 250ml hot water
Vegetable Layers
- 3 x courgettes – thinly sliced long ways
- 2 x aubergines – thinly sliced long ways
- 150g closed cup mushrooms – washed & sliced
- Crispy Topping
- Half cup of grated parmesan
- 2 large tomatoes – thinly sliced
- 1 x tsp dried parsley
- Salt & pepper
How it's done:
Arrange the sliced aubergines and courgettes on a large baking tray and pop in the pre-heated oven. Bake for 5mins each side. This helps to remove their moisture so avoid sogginess in the layers later on. Then remove from oven and put aside to cool.
Melt coconut oil in a large saucepan, fry the Aberdeen Angus mince until brown and drain off any excess fat that has been released. Pop back into the saucepan, add the onions and cook until soft.
Add the garlic, chilli, tomato puree, oregano, chopped tomatoes, and hot water, then stir and simmer for 15mins.
Take a large deep baking dish (The one I used was 9in x 13in). Place a single layer of the slices of aubergine on the bottom and top with a few large spoons of the beef mixture. Make sure to spread it evenly. Then make a layer using the sliced courgettes and top with a few more spoons of beef mix. For the third layer, arrange the sliced mushrooms and again top with more beef mix. Repeat these steps until you have used up all your vegetable layers and beef mix.
Top with the grated parmesan, tomato slices, dried parsley, salt and pepper.
Cook in a pre-heated oven for 30mins or until top is golden and crisp.
TIP- When you take the ‘lasagne’ out the oven, leave it aside for about 10 mins so it has a chance to cool slightly and it will set together, this makes it super easy to slice up.