Recipe: Vegan mince lasagna
Plant-loving endurance athlete Gary te Roller knows that there’s a way around using meat in dishes.
Lasagne. Picture: iStock
This lasagna, part of Fry Family Foods free cookbooks, is vegan, healthy and completely delicious.
Ingredients
12 gluten-free lasagna sheets
200g cashew cheese (or substitute other vegan cheese)
Bolognese
1 box Fry’s Meat Free Mince
2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 onion, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cans crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tsp sea salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
Béchamel sauce
4 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
½ cup cassava flour
2 ¾ cups unsweetened plant milk
1 tsp sea salt
½ tsp ground nutmeg
Ground black pepper, to taste
Method
Bolognese
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the veggies (onion, celery and carrot) over medium-high heat until golden brown.
2. Add the meat-free mince and tomato paste, and cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Add the crushed tomatoes, oregano and salt and pepper.
4. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until you have a rich sauce.
5. Once cooked, set aside and continue with the béchamel sauce.
Béchamel sauce
1. Heat the oil in a saucepan.
2. Add the flour and cook over medium-high heat for about 1 – 2 minutes or until it starts to brown. Stir constantly.
3. Remove from heat and pour the milk gently, stirring with a whisk. You can use cold or warm milk, it’s up to you. I prefer to add milk at room temperature.
4. Return to a low heat and stir constantly.
5. When the sauce thickens, stir in the salt, nutmeg, pepper, and set aside.
Assembling the lasagna
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Spread a thin layer of white sauce on the bottom of a baking or casserole dish. Top with a layer of lasagna sheets.
3. Spread a third of the bolognese, then about a third of the white sauce, and a third of the cashew cheese, and then top with another layer of lasagna sheets. Repeat these steps twice, but the second time you don’t have to top with a layer of lasagna sheets.
4. Bake the lasagna, covered with foil at 200°C for 15 minutes, and then remove the foil. Turn the oven down to 180°C, and bake for a further 15 minutes (the temperature and the baking time can vary depending on your lasagna sheets).
5. Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting and serving
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