Vegetarian Lasagna

It's happening. I can feel it. The veggies are starting to take over my life. I don't think I'll ever fully convert to vegetarianism but I'm certainly enjoying more veggie meals than ever before. I had always imagined meals without meat to be bland and boring with little satisfaction. I repent. My meat free week a few weeks ago has proved me wrong and now I enjoy meat free meals at least 3-4 times per week. This was one of my favourite recipes from that week and I am sure it will be on the menu numerous times over the summer.

Serves 6-8

For Lentils and Tomato Sauce:
200g Lentils
2 Bay Leaves
3 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 Onion (finely chopped)
1 stick of Celery (finely chopped)
1 Carrot (finely chopped)
1 clove of Garlic (finely chopped)
1/2 Courgette (finely chopped)
1 Red Pepper (finely chopped)
90ml White Wine
700g Tomato Passata
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tin (400g) of Butter Beans (drained and rinsed)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

For Bechamel:
50g Butter
50g Flour
500ml of Milk
grating of Nutmeg

For Assembly:
10 Lasagna Sheets (approx)
2 balls of Mozzarella (preferably Irish Buffalo Mozzarella, finely sliced)

1. Rinse the lentils well before putting in a saucepan with 1 litre of cold water and one bay leaf. Bring to the boil, turn down the heat and simmer for approx 30 minutes. There is no need to season the lentils yet. Drain and set aside.

2. Heat the oil in a pan over a medium heat and add the onion, celery, carrot, garlic, courgette and red pepper. Season well with salt and pepper and cook for 7-10 minutes. Add the wine and allow to cook off for 4-5 minutes before adding the cooked lentils, passata, oregano and beans. Allow to simmer for 20-30 minutes. Check for seasoning.

3. Meanwhile make the bechamel. Put a saucepan over a medium heat and melt the butter in it. When it has all melted add the flour and stir well. Allow to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn't burn. Whisk in the milk in a steady stream and stir often. It will thicken quite quickly as it comes to the boil. Season to taste with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg and set aside.

4. Cook the lasagna sheets in plenty of salted boiling water for about 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and keep apart from each other to stop them from sticking.

5. Assemble the lasagna in a baking dish. Start with a thin layer of lentil and tomato sauce followed by bechamel followed by a single layer of pasta sheets. Repeat this process twice more and finish with a layer of bechamel. Top the dish with the mozzarella and bake in a pre-heated 180 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Bulgur Wheat Salad

This past week Compassion In World Farming were encouraging people to have a meat free week. The idea is to make consumers think about their meat consumption and the effects it has on the animals and our planet. As a die hard carnivore I was reluctant but eventually decided to partake. I made the decision a couple of years ago to eat poultry and eggs only if they are at least free range and after watching a chilling documentary a year ago, I decided on the same for pork. I see no reason why our over consumption of meat should lead to such terrible lives for these animals and with this in mind I've been pleasantly surprised with how smooth this meat free week has gone. 

It is true that I have missed the taste of salty bacon and a slice of salami on my pizza but not enough to give in. A simple tomato and mozzarella pizza is just as satisfying and the vegetable curry I made yesterday is certainly among the best curries I've had, quite eye opening. Strangely I've found myself feeling a little bit healthier during the week too. I've been flat to the boards in work but have generally had more energy than usual, although that could just be a mental thing. One of my favourite meals of the week was this salad. It's perfect for lunch but works just as well as a side for dinner and I will certainly be having it as a salad at my (hopefully many) summer barbecues. If I wasn't having a meat free week I probably would have used chicken stock to cook the bulgur but the vegetable stock was just as tasty.

Serves 4 (for lunch)

150g Bulgur Wheat (rinsed)
600ml Vegetable Stock (or chicken stock)
4 tbsp Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
75g Mangetout Peas (sliced into 1cm pieces)
4 Radish (thinly sliced)
4 Chiquino Peppers (sliced)
8 large Basil Leaves (thinly sliced)
4 Spring Onions (sliced)
handful of Cashew Nuts
100g Feta Cheese (crumbled)

1. Bring the stock to the boil and add the bulgur wheat. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until tender. Drain well.

2. Dress the bulgur with the oil and vinegar while still hot. Stir well and set aside to cool.

3. When it has cooled add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. The feta should provide enough salt and the radish enough of a pepper hit but have a taste to make sure. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Pasta with Kale and Potato

I have recently been going through my vast selection of cookery books picking out recipes in order to increase my knowledge and expand my palate. I have found myself strangely attracted to vegetarian recipes which, for a die hard carnivore like myself, has been rather disconcerting. One such recipe was contained in Two Greedy Italians Eat Italy (review: here), Pizzoccheri with Swiss Chard and Potato. Pizzoccheri is a buckwheat pasta that is very difficult to find on this beautiful island and I noticed that a local supermarket had a special on curly kale so I decided to adapt the recipe to suit. I made a few other adjustments to ensure that all of the ingredients are easy to find in any supermarket. It worked out a treat!


Serves 4

300g Tagliatelle Pasta
200g Curly Kale (stalks removed and chopped)
200g Rooster Potatoes (peeled and cubed)
100g Unsalted Butter
3 cloves of Garlic (finely sliced)
100g Grated Mozzarella Cheese
80g Parmesan Cheese (grated)
Sea Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

1. Bring a large pot of water to the boil and salt well. Add the pasta, kale and potatoes and allow to boil for 8 minutes. Drain and put into a baking dish.

2. Meanwhile, heat the butter over a medium heat and add the garlic. Fry gently for 4-5 minutes until soft but not coloured.

3. Mix the pasta, potatoes and kale well and add the mozzarella cheese. Stir well before pouring over the butter and garlic mix. Stir well and check for seasoning, adding salt and pepper to taste.

4. Sprinkle the parmesan over the top and bake in a pre-heated 170 degree oven for 20 minutes. Serve immediately.