Our favourite vegetable lasagna, full of flavour and with a classic white sauce.

2 tablespoons olive oil 1 onion, chopped
400g (14 oz) button mushrooms, sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed 2 x 400g (14 oz) tins of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
a dash of sugar
2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato paste
500g (1 lb 2 oz) baby spinach, trimmed
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6-8 sheets lasagna

CHEESE SAUCE
50g (2 oz) butter 50g (2 oz) flour
600ml (1 pint) hot milk 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
250g (9 oz) Gruyere cheese, grated

  1. You will need a 1.8 litre (3 pint) capacity ovenproof dish.
  2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan on the Boiling Plate. Add the onion and fry for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic and fry for 2 minutes, stirring. Add the tinned tomatoes, thyme, vinegar, sugar, tomato paste and spinach and fry for a further 5 minutes, until the spinach has wilted and the sauce is bubbling. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a pan on the Boiling Plate. Add the flour and stir for a minute. Whisk in the milk, add the mustard and half of the cheese. Season and bring to the boil, whisking for a few minutes to thicken.
  4. Put a third of the vegetables in the base of the ovenproof dish. Spread a third of the cheese sauce over the top and then finish with half of the lasagna sheets. Continue until you have three layers of vegetables and cheese sauce and two layers of pasta. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
  5. Slide on to the third set of runners in the Roasting Oven for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown, bubbling around the edges and the pasta is tender.

PREPARE AHEAD
Can be made to the end of step 4 up to a day ahead. It also freezes well for up to 1 month .

CONVENTIONAL OVEN
Cook in an oven preheated to 200° C/Fan 180° C/Gas 6 for about 30-35 minutes or until golden brown .

TIP
If using dried pasta, I make this ahead in the morning or even the day before -this gives time for the sauces to soften the pasta before cooking.

This is from my book The Complete AGA Cookbook

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