Lactose Free Veggie Lasagne

31 Dec

I know what you think! …sounds lame as can be, right?

But it actually is finger-licking good!

SO STAY WITH ME!!!

I am sitting at the table, holding myself back from getting a third piece of the heavenly Lasagne. I thought of not even sharing the recipe, as lactose-free veggie lasagne sounds lame as can be. Well, hear me out, it is the 26th December and all the stores are closed; to be honest, I was planning on making a Lasagne for Christmas, so I bought Lasagne sheets and cheese, but wanted to buy the meat later… and here we are sitting on a holiday with the greatest planning in front of the ingredients to a Veggie Lasagne.

Well, without further ado, let’s get cooking. I believe everything is set and falls with the tomato sauce! So the base is good tomatoes, full in taste and preferably with a so-called meaty consistency. I add a few cherry tomatoes later on, as they are more fruity in flavour.

The shopping list is adjustable, and if you have cheese, tomatoes, an onion, lasagna sheets and veggies, whatever it is, stay with me, we are going to make a delicious Lasagne out of this!

**Shopping List** for 2 hungry grown up’s

1 Pk lasagna sheets (we just need a few), tomatoes for about 400 ml sauce, 2 mushrooms,1 carrot, 1 medium onion, garlic, zucchini, eggplant, 1-2 eggs, peas, leek, cream cheese or creme fraiche, gratin cheese (gouda, emmentaler or mozzarella all work perfectly fine)
**Seasoning:**
Chili flakes, onions, pepper, salt, bay leaf, paprika powder (sweet or spicy), veggie broth (if on Hand), salvia & thyme

The one thing I have learned over the last 20 years working in restaurants is that time is king. Be patient! Today I am making the sauce, and tomorrow I will chop all the veggies, heat up the sauce, and layer the lasagna, then put it in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 180 °C, top and bottom heat.

Alright, let’s start with the tomato sauce:

Set the heat on medium+/4 (on an oven scale of 1-9)
Chop the onions into pieces, don’t worry about how small, we will puree the sauce later!
Oil and onions in the cold pot; close the lid and chop tomatoes and garlic (1-3 cloves). I don’t have any bullion on Hand, so I am chopping veggies into it to enrich the flavour of the basic sauce. -zucchini, leek, and tulip cabbage and carrot - those are just flying around in my fridge.
The onions are sizzling, translucent, and shiny, that’s where we add all the other veggies, garlic, and let it heat up.
Everything is sizzling again, so I am adding the tomatoes.
Season with salt, pepper, bay leaf, paprika, a teaspoon of sugar, and last but not least, chili. Now we add a few cherry tomatoes as well.
Close the lid, cut the salvia and plug the thyme leaves; the veggies are slightly sticking to the bottom of the pot, so now it's time to add about 100/150 ml of water.
(You could add a sip of red wine as well! Let it heat up until boiling, then add a sip of water. Both ways work perfectly fine! ->By adding wine, the taste is more compact/intense. I like the taste of veggies more natural, that’s why I am working with water here.
Close the lid and let the veggies simmer for about 10 min. When everything is nice and soft, you can turn off the heat and puree the veggie mix into a sauce. This is the moment when I taste the sauce, and it is indeed quite intense and a little too thick, but it will be perfect by tomorrow, as we will add some water when heating it.

Now, we let the sauce chill overnight and let the wonderful flavours do magic.

No matter if it is the next day or you are making the lasagna on the same day, we need warm to hot sauce, pasta sheets, cut all the veggies into THIN slices, cream cheese or creme fraiche, and gratain cheese.

Today it is eggplant, zucchini, mushrooms, frozen peas, and a boiled egg; I am preparing everything so I can assemble the lasagne easily (it’s like playing a good old game of Tetris).

**I was short on sauce and extend it with adding more tomatoes when heating the sauce you may see a shift in colour.

So here is the speed-up version on how to layer a lasagne:

We add at least 3 layers of pasta sheets, one on the bottom, then one on top of the veggies and one on top of the cream cheese. Top it with tomato sauce and grated cheese, and let's put that piece of heaven into the oven.

180°C for 35-40 minutes, top and bottom heat, and here comes another restaurant insight tip for you:

For all who wonder why restaurants are able to serve food fast and delicious, here comes the insider tip:

Bake the lasagna without the gratin cheese (no more than 30 min.), let it cool, and serve the next day by adding the cheese and heating it up till crispy, cheesy, and golden brown; if you are going to portion the lasagna on plates, that’s even better! => keep some sauce on the side, portion the lasagne, add a big spoonful of sauce and sprinkle cheese to taste on top. Then into the oven, microwave, pot in a water bath, or whatever works best for you. Heat up the delicious mountain of greatness and enjoy. That is how you will serve the most flavorful lasagna.

This is not only about lasagna; most dishes need time to expand flavours and taste. That’s why the food in a restaurant is so tasty, we let the flavours settle and prepare to serve fast.