Simple Veg. Lasagna

The earlier recipe requires one to put patience and lots of efforts, ingredients to enjoy the lasagna. It took me three hours before I could enjoy my vegetable lasagna (baking time for approx 1 hour extra). So I tried this simple yet tasty variety of vegetable lasagna. Thanks to BBC's Food Recipe website.

1 Cucumber (medium sized), sliced

1 Aubergine (Eggplant, Baingan, medium sized), sliced

3-4 TS extra virgin olive oil

1 kg Tomatoes (firm and ripe), sliced

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 TS Vinegar, balsamic

10-12 fresh basil leaves, torn

Pinch salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 to 5 Cheese slices

10 to 15 fresh lasagna sheets

100 gm Cheese/Paneer, grated

In the earlier post of Vegetable Lasagna, I have shared the recipe to prepare the lasagna sheets at home. We use the same recipe to prepare the lasagna sheets. If you are using the ready-made lasagna sheets, you will have to cook the lasagna noodles/sheets in a large pot of boiling water with salt and butter for 10 minutes, or until al dente. Rinse with cold water, and drain

Heat a pan, brush the slices of cucumber and eggplant with olive oil and grill/roast for several minutes each side until char-grilled, then remove. You will have to do this in batches.

Now Preheat the oven to 180 deg. C/ 375 deg. F. Brush the inside of a large baking dish with a little oil. Place a layer of sliced tomatoes (about one third of the total) on the bottom, slightly overlapping.Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Next, layer with half of the courgette and aubergine slices. Sprinkle with half the chopped garlic and one tbsp balsamic vinegar. Scatter over half of the torn basil leaves. Season with salt and pepper. Layer half the mozzarella slices on top, then cover with half the lasagne sheets. 

Continue layering with the remaining of the ingredients, in the same sequence and ending with a layer of tomatoes on top. Sprinkle over the grated cheese/paneer.Alternatively, you can also cover the tomatoes with cheese slices (in that case, you will require more cheese slices)

Cover with foil (ensure it doesn't stick to the cheese) and bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake another 5 to 10 minutes until the cheese bubbling and golden on top.

Vegetable Lasagna with Lasagna Sheets

Lasagna one of the many Italian delicacies, is my favorite amongst pastas. I have had Lasagna at various places in Mumbai, PopTates, Malad, Pizza by the Bay (erstwhile Pizzeria), Churchgate, JugHeads, Powai, to name a few. Each of these Lasagna tastes yummy, though different. I myself like the one served at Pizza by the Bay.

For a learner like me, preparing Lasagna was a tedious task, and I had messed up the whole kitchen (which eventually I only had to clean). This is a must when you experiment with cooking.


This recipe has the following sub recipe
1. Lasagna sheets
2. Red curry
3. White curry
4. Roasted vegetables
5. Lasagna Layering and baking

Ingredients

for Lasagna sheets
2 C All purpose flour, extra for dusting
1 TS Olive oil
1/2 ts Salt
1 TS Mayonnaise

for Red curry
1 Carrot, small to medium size, roughly chopped
4 Tomatoes, roughly chopped
50 gm Paneer ( Gouda Cheese, optional),
100 gm tomato ketchup
2 Onions, medium size, finely chopped
2 to 3 Garlic Cloves, medium to large size, chopped/minced/sliced
1 TS Olive Oil
Salt to taste
White Pepper 1 T
Italian Seasoning 1 T (Optional)
for White curry
85 gm Butter
85 gm All purpose flour (Maida, I used regular wheat flour though)
750 ml Milk
1 ts Salt (to taste)

for Roasted vegetables
1 Aubergine (eggplant, baingan, medium size), sliced
1 Cucumber (medium size), sliced
1 ts Olive oil
for Lasagna Layering and baking
5 to 6 Spinach leaves (fresh, medium to large size)
Salt & Black Pepper for seasoning
1 ts Olive oil
4 to 5 Cheese slices
50 gm Grated Paneer or Cheese