Lentil and Chestnut Lasagne

15‐20 lasagne sheets

2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes or passata

1 tin green lentils, drained and rinsed

150g mushrooms, chopped into small pieces

150g chestnuts

1 medium courgette, chopped into small pieces

1 large onion

2 tbsp tomato paste

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 litre vegan vegetable stock cube

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp parsley

1 tbsp sage

1 tbsp thyme

1 bunch kale

salt and black pepper

For the ‘cheese’ sauce

800ml milk

100g plain flour

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

salt and black pepper

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C.

• In a food processor, pulse the onion, courgette, mushrooms, garlic, and chestnuts to form a chunky mixture.

• Add this to a preheated, non‐stick saucepan with the olive oil. Cook until the mixture begins to soften.

• Stir in the lentils, herbs and the tomato paste, evenly coating the mixture in the herbs.

• Add the chopped tomatoes, kale and stock, bring to boil and allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. If the mixture looks too watery, stir in cornstarch to thicken.

• In a separate pan, make the ‘cheese’ sauce. Warm the olive oil and then stir in the flour to form a crumbly mixture. Then stir in the almond milk, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.

• Whisk the sauce over a medium heat for around 5 to 10 minutes until it has thickened.

• Once the vegetables and ‘cheese’ sauce are cooked, assemble the lasagne.

• Add a layer of the lentil and chestnut mix to the base of a baking dish, then top it with a layer of lasagne sheets. Repeat this process once more.

• Add another layer of the lentil and chestnut mix and this time top it with half the ‘cheese’ sauce. Top this sauce with a layer of lasagne sheets and then complete the dish with the rest of the ‘cheese’ sauce.

• Bake the lasagne in the oven for 40 minutes until the lasagne sheets have cooked through.