Lentil Lasagne

Many, many years ago I told my husband that we needed to eat less meat and more 'beans and things'. Not really being very familiar with this style of cooking, I looked around for a recipe as I knew if I did it off the top of my head I would have no idea what I was doing and it wouldn't be edible. So appeared the Lentil Lasagne.

That night my husband arrived home from work and I told him what was for tea. I said all we had to do was try it and if we didn't like it I would put it in the bin and we could have pizza. So, in a household of confirmed carnivores, this is now our most favourite meal.

Lentil Lasagne

Fry an onion and garlic in a slosh of oil. Add a sprinkle of Italian herbs and a tin of drained rinsed brown lentils. Add a tin of crushed tomatoes and either a tin of tomato soup or some tomato paste and water. Let this simmer gently while you make the white sauce.

Layer the lentil sauce and the white sauce as you would a meat lasagne. Bake 180C for about an hour until bubbling around the sides. Rest about 15 mins and serve, or cool and freeze.

If you know some folks with lentil phobia, you can add some mince. This makes the lentils less noticable and makes a small amount of mince go a long way. I cook it at lunch time for an hour and then reheat at tea time. This helps the pasta absorb the sauce and lasagne cuts nicely, and you are less likely to have a sloppy mess.

I like to use an egg in the white sauce that is going on the top layer. The egg makes the top layer puff up and stay firm.

Just delicious, and even better reheated the next day.