Vegan Lasagna with Harissa, Pesto Vegetables & Rice Milk Sauce

When you are moving house the last thing you want to do after a weekend of removals is to cook for the family. With my dodgy back I wouldn’t get far lifting boxes anyway but can be of use cooking for everyone after a hard days labour. Friends of ours moved last weekend and I thought a lasagne would be perfect to drop in for them and they could cook it when they were ready to eat. Our friend is vegan so I experimented with a rice milk white sauce which came out really well, it’s a little sweeter than milk but you don’t really notice with all the savoury fillings. You could use soy milk but I’m not fond of the taste and I was going to make an extra one for our dinner too so decided to try the rice milk instead.

It’s such a pretty looking lasagne with the layers of colour and the pesto and harrisa and depth of flavour. This original is a Ruth pretty recipe that I found in an old fitness magazine but I used a rice milk sauce and also added my Harissa paste for more flavour. The puy lentils offer additional protein.

Aubergine, Courgette, Red Pepper Harissa Lasagne with Puy Lentils

Ingredients

• 80g vegan marg/spread
• 80g flour
• 600ml rice milk, heated to boiling

• 1 kg (4-5) fresh lasagne sheets
• 1 tin Puy lentils (cooked) 1 large aubergine/eggplant (cut into 7.5mm thick rounds and baked at 220°C until soft through and golden brown on the edges).
• 4 large red peppers/capsicum (baked at 220°C until skin blisters, then seeded, skinned and cut in half)
• 1/2 tin tomatoes, blended and mixed with the harissa
• 4 Tbsp harissa sauce
• 4 courgetttes/zucchini (cut lengthwise into very thin strips and hot baked at 220°C until soft and golden brown on the edges)
• 30ml (2 tbsp) basil pesto
• 75g (3/4 cup) tasty grated cheese
• 35g (1/2 cup) grated Parmesan cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190°C
2. Roast all the vegetables as above.
3. To make the sauce Garlic Bèchamel sauce, melt the butter in a medium size saucepan over a low heat.
4. Add the flour to the melted butter and mix to a smooth paste. Cook for 2 minutes while continuing to stir the paste.
5. Add the hot rice milk a ladle at a time and stir the milk into the flour. Only add another ladle of milk when the paste is smooth. Continue until all milk has been added and you have a smooth medium think sauce.
6. Lightly grease base and sides of a deep baking dish. (27cm x 20cm).
7. Spread 1/2 cup of Garlic Bèchamel Sauce over the base of the dish.
8. Divide Puy lentils into 3 portions and sprinkle sauce with 1st portion of Puy lentils and cover with single layer of lasagne sheets.
9. Lay cooked eggplant on top of lasagne sheets and cover with 150ml of Garlic Bèchamel sauce.
10. Top with 2nd portion of Puy lentils and cover with a single layer of lasagne sheets.
11. Cover lasagne sheets with tomato & harissa sauce and top with cooked peppers.
12. Cover peppers with single layer of lasagne sheets and spread sheets evenly with pesto.
13. Lay zucchini onto pesto and top with 100ml (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp) of Garlic Bèchamel and remainder of lentils.
14. Top with a final single layer of lasagne sheets, remainder of Garlic Bèchamel Sauce and sprinkle with cheeses for non vegans.
15. You can store in the fridge for up to 2 days until you are ready to bake and serve.
16. Place in oven and bake 30-40 minutes until lasagne is soft and top is golden brown.