Celeriac, Courgette and Puy Lentil Lasagne

Celeriac, Courgette and Puy Lentil Lasagne served in a casserole dish with a portion being lifted out with a spoon
  • 4 servings
  • 1 hour 25 minutes to prepare
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Ingredients

  • FOR THE LENTIL RAGU
  • Drizzle olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, peeled and diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 50g tomato puree
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 300ml vegetable stock
  • 250g cooked puy lentils
  • FOR THE CELERIAC BECHAMEL
  • 1 celeriac
  • 1ltr whole milk
  • 50g butter
  • 100g plain flour
  • Salt & pepper
  • TO ASSEMBLE
  • 2 courgettes, thinly sliced lengthways
  • Drizzle olive oil
  • Pepper

Instructions

A delicious meat free lasagne recipe made with courgette and puy lentils, with a slightly different take on bechamel sauce – it’s infused with celeriac. It’s very easily adaptable to make it a mousakka too.

Method

To make the ragu

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C (fan)/400°F/gas mark 6.
  2. Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan. Add the diced onion and sauté over a medium heat for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the, carrot and garlic. Cook for a further 2 minutes.
  4. Add the tomato puree and cook for 1 minute.
  5. Add the tinned tomatoes, vegetable stock and lentils, bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 15 minutes and set to one side.

To make the béchamel

  1. Scrub the celeriac clean. Top and tail the celeriac and remove the outer skin with a paring knife and place into a large saucepan. Add the milk, bring to the boil and set to one side.
  2. Place the butter into a large pan. Melt over a medium heat.
  3. Add the flour and stir to coat the butter to make a roux. Cook over a medium heat for 1 minute.
  4. Strain the hot milk into a measuring jug and discard the celeriac peelings.
  5. Slowly add the milk to the roux whisking continuously to prevent lumps.
  6. Bring to the boil before removing from the heat.
  7. Strain the béchamel into a bowl, season well with salt and pepper and set to one side.

To assemble

  1. Thinly slice the trimmed celeriac. Place half of the lentil Ragu into a lasagne dish approximately 30cmx25cm. Top with 1/2 of the sliced celeriac, 1/3 of the sliced courgette and half of the béchamel.
  2. Repeat until you’ve used up the ragu, celeriac, courgette and bechamel, finishing with a layer of sliced courgette.
  3. Drizzle over a little extra olive oil and season with pepper. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 1 hour. Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Chef’s Tip

This dish is perfect if you are cutting down on carbs, but feel free to add in lasagne sheets too if you wish. Swap the courgette for aubergine to turn this dish into a moussaka, and add a a teaspoon of cinnamon to the ragu at step 3.

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