With those big purple beetroots taking over the allotments right now – make good use of them with this perfect alternative to meat. Their juicy cooked texture along with their rich colour will persuade any deep-rooted omnivore to make veg their preference. Use any cheese you like to add depth, alternatively go all out and make it vegan with non-dairy alternatives and egg free pasta.
Ingredients
500g fresh beetroot – once peeled and grated
2 onions, peeled & chopped
15ml (1Tbsp) olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
15ml (1Tbsp) fresh thyme, chopped
Pinch of sugar
2.5ml (1/2 tsp) salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Sauce:
70g butter
70g flour
700ml milk
5ml (1tsp) mustard
Freshly grated nutmeg
Salt & pepper
75g cheddar cheese, grated
250g Fresh lasagne sheets or use dried alternative (amount varies)
250g Taleggio cheese, sliced
25g freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method
- Preheat the oven to 190°
- Heat the oil in a deep sized frying pan and gently fry the onions until soft.
- Add the garlic and continue to fry for another minute.
- Stir in the freshly grated beetroot and add the thyme, sugar, salt and season with pepper, leave to simmer gently while you prepare the sauce.
- To make the sauce – place the butter, flour and milk in a saucepan over a medium heat and whisk or stir until thickened. This should take around 5 minutes.
- Season the sauce with nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir in the mustard and grated cheddar cheese.
- Grease a 25 x 20cm oven proof dish with a little extra live oil and add a sheet of lasagne pasta to the bottom. Depending on the size of your dish you may need to cut another sheet of pasta to cover the bottom completely.
- Spoon over one-third of the beetroot over the lasagne base and drizzle white sauce. Repeat twice. Make sure you reserve approximately one-third of the white sauce for the topping.
- Add a further layer of pasta and cover with remaining white sauce.
- Cover the top with sliced Taleggio cheese and sprinkle over the freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.