Kid-Friendly and Healthy Vegetarian Lasagna

When I decided to go vegetarian seven years ago, one of the biggest challenges was reconciling my

conviction that a vegetarian diet was best for our health, with the taste preferences of three growing boys and an omnivore (but thankfully very flexible) husband.   After a lot of trial and error, my lasagna recipe is one I can say I have finally “gotten just right” – the kids are always happy to find out that it’s on the menu for dinner and the leftovers are gobbled up the next day.   And I’m happy because I’ve snuck in veggies they normally wouldn’t eat (sometimes I even throw a handful of chopped spinach in with the tomato sauce) and am putting a healthy meal on the table.

So when I saw that one of my favorite vegetarian cooking blogs (Lisa's Kitchen along with Tinned Tomatoes) was calling for readers to contribute their favorite lasagna recipes this month as part of a monthly "Pasta Please" challenge, I felt like it was the perfect time to share.

Amy’s Kid-Friendly Vegetarian Lasagna

(makes 9 servings @ 325 calories per serving)

Ingredients:

For the vegetable filling:

1 T olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 medium courgette (zucchini), grated

2 small carrots, grated

½ t each dried basil and oregano

Dash of turmeric and black pepper

1 pkg (180 g) Alpro Soya soy mince (or other vegetarian ground “meat” substitute)

1 jar (500 g) basil-tomato pasta sauce

For the béchamel:

50 g. margarine

50 g. flour

1 t salt

¼ t pepper

Dash of nutmeg

700 ml of plain unsweetened soy milk

15 no-boil lasagna noodles

150 g. grated mozzarella (either skip entirely or use vegan cheese for a vegan version)

Preheat the oven to 180° C/375° F.

First prepare the vegetable filling: fry the chopped onion in a skillet in the oil gently until softened.  Add the courgette and carrots, basil, oregano, turmeric, and pepper and stir-fry until well combined.  Add the soy mince and pasta sauce and stir well.  Lower heat and simmer while you make the béchamel.

In a saucepan, melt the margarine over low heat.  Add the flour and stir to obtain a thick paste.  Add the seasonings and soy milk (I usually heat my soy milk in the microwave before this step to save a bit of time), raise the heat and stir with a whisk until the mixture begins to bubble and thicken.

In a 13x9 inch baking dish, spread a thin layer of vegetable filling on the bottom.  Follow with three lasagna noodles, one next to the other.  Then spread 1/4^th of the remaining vegetable filling covered with about ¾ cup of béchamel.  Repeat with noodles, vegetable filling and béchamel three more times, until you have three noodles left to place on top.  Cover the last layer of noodles with grated mozzarella, and then the remaining béchamel.

Bake 35-40 minutes until bubbling and browned on top.  Enjoy!