RECIPE OF THE MONTH

Roasted vegetable lasagne
Our favourite food blogger, the Food Fox came up with this yummy vegetable lasagne, perfect for a no-fuss winter weekend meal.

Ingredients for roasted vegetables:
about 5 cups of diced vegetables of your choice
about 60 ml olive oil
45 ml chopped fresh herbs (like thyme, rosemary, chives & basil) – or 5 ml dried herbs
salt & pepper for seasoning
Ingredients for white/béchamel sauce:
125 g butter
125 ml flour (1/2 cup)
1 litre of milk (4 cups)
a pinch of ground nutmeg
salt and pepper for seasoning
For assembly:
about 250 g uncooked lasagne pasta sheets (or roughly 400 g fresh pasta sheets)
250 g grated mozzarella cheese (about 2 cups)
300 g ricotta cheese (about 1 cup)
80 g Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
salt & pepper for seasoning
some extra grated cheese for the top, a mixture of mozzarella & Parmesan works best
a sprinkling of mixed herbs, for the top

Preheat oven to 220 C. In a large roasting tray, arrange diced vegetables, then drizzle with oil and season well with herbs, salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes until tender and golden brown on the edges. Remove and set aside.
In a saucepan on stove top, melt butter on medium heat, then add flour and mix to form a paste. Cook for 30 seconds, stirring, then slowly add milk while stirring. Keep stirring vigorously over medium heat to form a smooth sauce. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper, then set aside.
Cook the pasta sheets in a large pot of salted boiling water until just undercooked – about 6 minutes. Drain and get ready for assembling the lasagne immediately (otherwise they might start sticking together). Please note: if you are using fresh pasta sheets, you don’t have to precook them, you can go straight to assembling.
In a large mixing bowl, carefully mix together the mozzarella cheese, ricotta & Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.
In a large deep rectangular oven dish, start layering the lasagne: start with a thin layer of white sauce, then pasta sheets, then veg mixture, then cheese mixture. Keep layering – you should repeat this about 3 times. End with a thick layer of béchamel sauce, then sprinkle with some leftover cheese mixture and some chopped/dried herbs. Bake at 180 C for at least 45 minutes, or until golden brown, bubbly and gooey. If the top starts to get too dark before the lasagne is cooked, cover with foil and return to the oven.