This hearty lasagne is delicious cold with salad the next day, if there is any left.
600g (21 oz) aubergines
500g (17.5 oz/3.5 cups) onions, diced
3 cloves garlic
2 stalks celery, diced
600g (21 oz) courgettes
1 red pepper, diced
100g (3.5 oz/2 cups) spinach or chard, chopped
Olive oil
800g (28 oz/5 ⅓ cup) tomatoes, chopped
Plus 2 or 3 tomatoes, sliced, to decorate
240g (8.5 oz/1.5 cups) cooked beans
(400g tin, drained)
1-2 tbsp chopped herbs – basil, parsley or oregano (or a mixture of all three)
Salt and pepper to taste
For the garlic bread
A crusty loaf of bread
4-10 cloves garlic (I like it strong!)
0.5-1 cup olive oil (it depends how large the loaf is)
Pepper
An oven dish approximately 25 x 25cm (10 x 10in)
Preheat the oven to 180oC fan (200oC/400oF/gas mark 6).
Finely chop the garlic and mix into the olive oil. Add a little pepper, stir and leave to infuse.
Slice the aubergines and courgettes lengthways into 5mm thick slices.
Pour some olive oil into the pan and soften the onions, garlic and celery on a low heat.
When cooked, add the red pepper, beans and tomatoes. Simmer for around 15 minutes until the sauce is cooked through.
Meanwhile, drizzle olive oil onto a griddle and cook the aubergines and courgettes, several slices at a time, turning occasionally, for 3-4 minutes.
Pour some of the tomato sauce into the oven dish, add a layer of aubergine, then more sauce, a layer of courgette, and so on until the dish is filled with layers of sauce, aubergine and courgette. Decorate with slices of tomato.
Put in the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
Slice the bread so the knife goes about 90% through the loaf, leaving the base intact and the slices attached to each other. Put in a baking dish and, using a spoon, drizzle the garlic oil over both sides of each slice.
15 minutes before the lasagne is ready, put the bread in the oven.
When the lasagne is cooked, remove from the oven and serve with the crusty garlic bread and a large salad, or dish of steamed seasonal green vegetables.
Tip – Frying pan will work if you don’t have a griddle.
This recipe adapts well to other vegetables. In the winter, use slices of cooked potato, parsnip, sweet potato or squash. Cooked whole cabbage and kale leaves make lovely ‘lasagne sheets’ too.
The Creative Kitchen
by Stephanie Hafferty
No Dig Organic Home and Garden
by Stephanie Hafferty and Charles Dowding
Stephanie Hafferty is a no dig gardener, writer and author of The Creative Kitchen and coauthor of No Dig Organic Home and Garden.
