Vegetarian Lasagna (For 4 servings)
Ingredients
2 large tomatoes
2 medium size onions
2 large eggplants
Salt and pepper to season
3 cloves of garlic
3 branches of fresh thyme
2 branches of parsley
8 triangles of "Vache Qui Rit" cheese
4 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of tomato ketchup
2 teaspoons of sugar
Lasagna Sheets (refer photo step 9)
400ml of milk (semi-skimmed or full cream)
1 teaspoon of corn flour (dissolved in a small amount of water)
Procedure
Step 1 : Wash your eggplants, cut them into long slices and allow them to soak in some salt water for at least 20 minutes (in the meantime we are going to proceed with step 1-5 ).
Note: The latter step is important so that the salt will eliminate or at least attenuate the strong bitterness of the eggplant. It will also contribute to reduce the amount of oil that will be absorbed when cooked in oil (step 6).
Step 2: In your pan, add your chopped onions, olive oil (2 tablespoons), 2 pinches of salt/ pepper, and 1 teaspoon of sugar. Allow to cook on a low-medium heat.
Step 3 : Once your onions have cooked and are somehow translucent in color, add your tomatoes (cut into slices) and as soon as they become soft and almost liquid, add your 2 teaspoons of tomato ketchup. This is just to intensify the red color of the tomato sauce .
Step 4: Stop the heat. Using your hand mixer, mix mix mix until you obtain a smooth and sexy tomato sauce .
Step 5: Add your thinly chopped parsley and garlic, 1 teaspoon of sugar, your thyme leaves as well as salt and pepper to taste. Allow to cook on a low-medium heat for another 2 minutes and voila, your home made tomato sauce is ready !
Step 6: Drain your eggplant slices from the salt water and strir-fry them (in a non-stick pan if possible) on a medium to high heat with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and 1 pinch of pepper. Once the slices have become soft, remove from heat and put aside to be used in step 11 .
Step 7: Time to prepare the bechamel sauce ! In your pan, add your milk, "Vache Qui Rit" triangles, 2 pinches of pepper and 3 pinches of salt. Allow to cook on a low-medium heat while continuously stirring. As soon as the cheese has melted and that the mixture is boiling, add your corn flour (dissolved in a small amount of water).
Step 8: Stir stir and stir until your sauce starts to thicken. Once it reaches a "lava" texture, remove from heat, your bechamel is ready !
Step 9: Time for assembling ! Get everything ready !
Step 10: In an oven-safe baking dish, add a small layer of tomato sauce topped with a small layer (leave some gaps ) of bechamel sauce.
Step 11: Add eggplant slices as shown below and cover everything with one lasagna slice (you may cut the latter so that it fits your baking dish ).
Step 12: Repeat step 10 and 11 until you finish with a final layer of tomato and bechamel (There should be about 4 layers of lasagna sheets inside). Top up with a small pinch of pepper and some fresh thyme leaves and your lasagna is ready for baking. Cover loosely with aluminum foil and bake at 175 degrees Celsius for about 35 minutes !
Step 13: Voila ! Out of oven, Hot Hot Hot !
Before - After
Best served with a side salad
Bon Appetit ..
THANK YOU FOR WATCHING !...
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