DRAGON CAFE - The Dragon Cafe

DRAGON CAFE
Vegan Lasagna (Italian)
Serves 8
Vegan lasagne, so delicious, so much fun to make.
Dairy-free lasagne, easy to make with simple swappable
ingredients that yields 8 servings.
Preparation - 35 min. Cook for 30mins.

Ingredients:
For the Béchamel/White Sauce
100g cashews
450ml plant-based milk
50g dairy-free spread
25g plain flour
1 garlic clove, crushed
25g nutritional yeast flakes (optional)
2 tsp onion granules
½ lemon

For the tomato sauce
30g dried porcini mushrooms
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, chopped
2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
3 sprigs of rosemary, leaves only
150ml Balsamic vinegar
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 tsp caster sugar
200g Red Lentils
2 tsp Smoked Paprika

DRAGON CAFE
Vegan Lasagna (Italian)
Serves 8
Preparation - 35 min. Cook for 30mins.

Ingredients:
Vegetables
2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium-to-large yellow onion, chopped
2 large or 3 medium carrots, chopped into small pieces (about 1 cup)
300g mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
½ tsp fine sea salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
5 to 6 ounces baby spinach, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
2 courgettes diced
1 large butternut squash (about 1kg), peeled and cut into 1cm slices
3 medium aubergines (about 750g), cut into 1cm slices
1 tsp mild chilli powder
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp balsamic vinegar
600g young spinach
about 500g dried lasagne sheets
a few sprigs of rosemary, to serve

Everything Else:
Suggested garnished vegan Parmesan
(or a light sprinkle of nutritional yeast) and fresh basil

DRAGON CAFE
Vegan Lasagna (Italian)

Instructions:
 Preheat the oven to 180°C, fan 160°C, gas 4. Put the
 porcini mushrooms for the tomato sauce into a large mug,
 cover with boiling water and set aside. Put the squash and
 aubergines in a bowl with the chilli powder, some
 seasoning and 3 tablespoons of olive oil and toss to coat.
 Lay the squash on a lined baking tray, and the aubergines
 on another, and roast both for 45 minutes.

 Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a
 large deep pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and
 cook for 3 minutes to soften. Stir in the garlic and cook for
 a further 3 minutes.

 Pulse the carrot, celery, red pepper and rosemary leaves in
 a food processor until finely chopped (or chop by hand).
 Add to the pan and cook for 15 minutes. Pour in the
 balsamic vinegar, increase the heat to medium-high and
 cook for a further 5-7 minutes until this has cooked off but
 left everything a lovely red colour. Take the porcini out of
 the mug and finely chop. Add to the pan with the liquid
 from the mug, the chopped tomatoes and the sugar. Stir
 and simmer for a further 10 minutes.

 Remove the trays of vegetables from the oven. Drizzle the
 aubergine with the balsamic vinegar and mix well. If the
 butternut squash is very wet, drain it in a sieve, pressing
 out the liquid. Transfer to a large bowl and quickly mash.

DRAGON CAFE
Vegan Lasagna (Italian)

Instructions continued:
 Add the aubergine to the tomato sauce and simmer for a
 further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce
 has thickened. Taste and season. Take off the heat and set
 aside.

 Meanwhile, make the béchamel. Cook the cashews in
 boiling water for 10 minutes. Warm the plant-based milk in
 the microwave. Melt the dairy-free spread in a pan over
 medium heat. Turn the heat right down and add the flour
 to the pan, stirring until you have a paste. Gradually pour in
 the warm milk, stirring until you have a thick, creamy sauce.
 Add the garlic, nutritional yeast, if using, onion granules
 plus a pinch of salt and pepper. Squeeze in the lemon
 juice, catching any pips with your other hand. Drain the
 cashews and rinse with cold water. Blend to a fine cream
 with 100ml water in a liquidiser. Pour the béchamel into
 the liquidiser and blend everything together.

 Put the remaining oil in a large saucepan over a medium
 heat. Add the spinach, cover with a lid and cook for 5
 minutes until wilted. Transfer to a sieve and squeeze out as
 much liquid as you can.

 Chop the onions and mushrooms finely, dice the carrots.
 Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a frying pan, saute the
 onions, then add the mushrooms and carrots, cooking for
 a further 15mins on mid high heat.

DRAGON CAFE
Vegan Lasagna (Italian)

Instructions continued:
  Lightly oil a 25cm x 35cm baking dish and cover with
  lasagne sheets, breaking them if necessary to make a
  complete layer that will seal in the steam and properly
  cook the pasta. Spoon in a third of the tomato sauce, then
  lay a third of the spinach on top, followed by a third of the
  squash, carrot, onion and mushroom mix. Drizzle over a
  quarter of the béchamel sauce. Repeat twice more with
  layers of pasta, then tomato sauce, spinach, squash and
  béchamel. Top with a final layer of pasta, using broken
  pieces to fill any gaps (try to avoid overlaps) and cover with
  the remaining béchamel. Put a few rosemary leaves on top.
  Cover the lasagne with foil, put in the oven on the lowest
  shelf and bake for 50 minutes. Remove the foil and bake
  for a further 15 minutes, then leave to stand for 10
  minutes. Serve with a green salad and a little balsamic
  glaze, if you like.

tsp = teaspoon
tbsp = tablespoon