A Family Affair
MILANESE ROASTED VEGETABLE LASAGNE
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In recent years I seem to be increasingly
roasting or grilling vegetables basted with olive oil, and perhaps seasoned
or sprinkled with herbs. For a start, I love the flavor that develops;
secondly the texture of the vegetables changes wonderfully and thirdly,
the individual vegetables seem to retain more of their own identity than
if they had been stir-fried together. My favourite vegetables for roasting,
apart from the traditional ones of course, are aubergines, peppers, courgettes,
tomatoes, onions, fennel, garlic and shallots. The technique is very
simple and well worth experimenting with.
All sorts of lasagne are available these days. If you can't get or
make fresh lasagne, buy the type that requires boiling. 'No pre-cook'
lasagne is a bit of a risk as it tends to absorb water from your sauce
making the dish a little dry. You can compensate by making runnier sauces
but I find this a bit hit and miss.
Try and make the Tomato Sauce the day before as it improves with age. |
Serves six
Ingredients
12 sheets of lasagne, precooked in boiling water, then drained
sliced tomatoes, to garnish
Milanese Tomato Sauce:
½tbsp/23ml
olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1 green pepper, cored, deseeded and diced
4oz/125g field mushrooms (porcini if possible), chopped
8 basil leaves, torn into pieces
2 tsp dried oregano
1 bay leaf
6floz/175g
full-bodied vegetarian red wine
2
tbsp tomato purée
14oz/2 x 425g cans chopped tomatoes
8oz/250g fresh tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and chopped
Filling:
2tbsp/30ml extra virgin olive oil
1 large aubergine, quartered
2 large courgettes, quartered
1 large red pepper, cored, deseeded and quartered
1 large yellow pepper cored, deseeded and quartered
1 fennel bulb, quartered
4 shallots or small onions, halved
1 tbsp dried thyme or similar herb
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Cheese Sauce:
1¼pints/750ml
milk
3oz/75g butter
2oz/50g unbleached plain white flour
1
free-range egg yolk (optional)
2oz/50g
vegetarian Gorgonzola, Dolcelatte or Stilton cheese, grated
2oz/50g mature vegetarian Cheddar cheese, grated
2oz/50g
vegetarian Mozzarella cheese, grated
½ tsp
cayenne pepper
2tbsp/30ml soured cream (optional)
fine
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
1. Make the tomato sauce well in advance.
Heat the oil in a pan, sautée the onion until soft then add
the rest of
the vegetables and herbs and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Add the wine and cook gently to reduce by half.
Stir in the tomato puree quickly followed hy the canned and fresh tomatoes.
Bring to the boil then gently simmer for at least 1 hour (2 hours would be better).
Set the sauce aside to cool, then refrigerate.
2. The filling is simple to make.
Brush a baking sheet with olive oil; brush each piece of vegetable with oil and
arrange on the baking sheet. Season with dried herbs, salt and pepper.
Roast in a pre-heated oven, 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6, until cooked,
about 40-60 minutes. Set aside to cool.
When cool, you may wish to cut the vegetables further - I prefer them chunky
myself.
3. Make the cheese sauce by warming the milk in a large heavy saucepan.
Melt the butter in another saucepan, add the flour and cook for a few minutes
without letting it colour.
Then gradually add the warmed milk, stirring constantly to keep the mixture smooth.
When all the milk has been added let the sauce simmer very gently for about 10
minutes.
Stir in the egg yolk, if using, cheeses and seasoning and remove from the heat.
Add the soured cream and adjust the seasoning, it necessary.
4. To assemble the lasagne, brush the bottom of a 3 litre (5 pint) ovenproof
dish generously with olive oil.
Place 4 sheets of lasagne on the bottom of the dish and top with half of the
tomato sauce, half of the roasted vegetables and one-third of the cheese sauce.
Top this with 4 more sheets of lasagne and repeat the process until you have
one-third of the cheese sauce left, with which to top the remaining layer of
lasagne.
Garnish with the tomato slices.
5. Place in a preheated oven, 180°C/350°F/Gas mark 4 and bake
for about 45-55 minutes, or until the top is golden.
Allow the lasagne to stand for 10 minutes betore serving with the Grilled Salad
and Swiss Chard.
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