Switching to a plant based meal like this delicious recipe from @cathyes.world for a vegan Lentil & Mushroom Lasagne with a Munchy Seed Crumble just once a week can have a big impact on your carbon footprint. This great dish should help to convince you that you don’t have to compromise on taste and nutrition with vegan food especially with the help of our mild chilli savoury seeds.

Servings 8 (approx).

Ingredients:

Lentil & Mushroom Tomato Sauce:

2 cans chopped tomatoes
500ml water
2 tbsp tomato puree
150g dry red lentils
300g chestnut mushrooms
1 vegetable stock cube
1 large white onion
4 garlic cloves
2 stalks celery
1 tsp marmite
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
Handful fresh basil
Handful fresh parsley
1 bay leaf
1 tbsp soy sauce

Bechamel Sauce:

1 heaped tbsp plain flour
1 heaped tbsp vegan butter
0.8-1l plant milk (I prefer soy or oat)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp wholegrain mustard
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder

For the crumble:

60g Savoury Munchy Seeds (I prefer to use Mild Chilli as it gives the top of the lasagne a bit of a kick)
40g walnuts
2 tbsp golden breadcrumbs
2 tbsp rolled oats
Dry lasagne sheets

Method:

Finely chop / dice the onion, celery and mushrooms. Mince the garlic. On a medium heat, in a large pan, fry the onion & celery together until they begin to brown. Add the mushrooms & garlic, fry for 5-10 more mins, stirring regularly until the mushrooms are cooked. Add the dry herbs and red lentils, fry for 2 mins stirring continuously.

Add the wet ingredients (chopped tomatoes, water, stock cube, marmite, soy sauce and tomato puree). Leave to simmer for 20 minutes, or until lentils are cooked through. Add more water in small quantities if your sauce needs more liquid.

Make the Bechamel in a saucepan by first melting the butter, and then adding the flour. Cook on a medium heat and stir with a whisk until it becomes a thick paste (1/2 minutes). Add 100ml of plant milk at a time, whisking until the milk has fully combined. Repeat 4 more times.

Continue adding the plant milk, whisking as you go. Cook the sauce for 8-10 mins, it will thicken as it’s on the heat. If you need to thicken the sauce further after this time, add cornflour slurry (1 level tbsp cornflour + 2 tbsp water) and cook though for 2 to 3 mins. Add the nutritional yeast, mustard and spices to the sauce.

Make the crumble by adding all ingredients to a food processor and pulse 3 or 4 times. Construct your lasagne in a deep casserole dish by layering ‘tomato sauce, Bechamel, lasagne sheets’ until the last layer of pasta and your dish is almost full. Top with Bechamel and then generously cover the top layer of Bechamel with the Munchy Seed Crumble. Bake in a preheated oven at 190C for 35 – 40 minutes until the top is golden and begins to crisp. Serve with salad, balsamic dressing, and a few extra Mild Chilli Seeds for good measure!