Leek, red pepper and cashew vegetarian lasagne

Ingredients

• 850ml semi-skimmed milk
• 50g olive oil spread
• 50g plain flour
• 1 bay leaf
• 60g grated Italian-style hard cheese (Parmesan is not vegetarian, but alternatives are widely available)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 3 leeks sliced
• 3 red peppers cubed
• 300g ricotta
• 12 lasagne sheets (ready to cook)
• 50g cashew nuts, roughly chopped
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg powder
• 100g grated mozzarella
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C /Gas Mark 4.

Place the milk, olive oil spread, flour and bay leaf in a saucepan, season, and whisk together over a medium heat continually until it comes to simmering point and has thickened. Turn the heat down to its lowest possible setting and allow the sauce to cook gently for 5 minutes. Then, stir in most (50g) of the Parmesan, remove the pan from the heat and discard the bay leaf.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan, add the leeks and red peppers and cook until softened (approximately 5 minutes). Transfer into a large bowl and stir in the ricotta and cashew nuts. Season with black pepper and a pinch of salt.

Assemble the lasagne by spreading one-quarter of the sauce into the bottom of the dish, then one-third of the leek mixture and place sheets of lasagne on top of this. Repeat the whole process, this time adding one-third of the grated Mozzarella, then the lasagne sheets. Repeat again, finishing with a layer of pasta, the rest of the sauce and the remaining parmesan and mozzarella.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling.

Our thanks to British Leeks for supplying this recipe

Visit our vegetarian recipe section for more meat-free meal ideas, or try one of our other pasta recipes, including vegetarian courgette caponata and smoked tofu and watercress cannelloni.