With a deal on at our local farm shop for 1kg of flat mushrooms for £1.99, I had a lot of mushrooms to cook this week! The kids love lasagna so I’ve come up with this vegetarian version using the meaty, flat mushrooms as the main ingredient and it’s gone down a storm! It’s cheap and easy to prepare but also perfect comfort food now that those cold winter evenings are drawing in. I’ve used cheddar between layers but mozzarella would work really well and the addition of parmesan would give an extra dimension on the top! This recipe whole recipe can easily adjust to gluten and dairy free and could even be used as a side dish if you really can’t go without a meat centre-piece!

This recipe easily serves six.

Ingredients:

• 50g butter or dairy free alternative
• 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 750g (18-20) large flat mushrooms, chopped
• 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tsps dry mixed herbs
• Splash red wine (optional)
• Bag of fresh spinach (washed) or 8 cubes of frozen spinach
• Salt and pepper
• 50g corn flour
• 8-10 sheets of dry pasta (gluten free if needed)
• 100g grated cheddar cheese or dairy free hard cheese

Method:

• Melt about 1/4 of the butter in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion until translucent
• Add the garlic and cook for a further minute
• Add the mushrooms– this may take a few minutes if they won’t all fit in at once, just keep stirring and adding more until you’ve got them all in!
• Cook on a low-medium heat for about 8 minutes
• Add the dry herbs, spinach and tinned tomatoes (rinsed out with the red wine), cover and allow the spinach to wilt (or defrost) on a low heat for a few minutes

• Mix the cornflour with the remaining butter to form a paste and stir it into the mushroom mix until dissolved while slowly bringing it up to a simmer, the mix will thicken
• Allow to simmer for 2 minutes (to cook out the flour) then season to taste with salt and pepper
• Spoon 1/3 of the mushroom mix into an oven proof dish then top with a layer of dry pasta sheets followed by grated cheddar cheese

• Repeat these layers twice more, finishing with cheese on top, ensuring an even cover with no pasta showing through

• The lasagna can be refrigerated at this stage of up to 2 days before cooking

• Cook in a preheated oven at 180C fan (200C no fan) for 45 minutes, until bubbling and golden
• Serve with steamed veg or salad

Enjoy your Mushroom & Spinach Lasagna!!

The most popular recipes on the blog this week were:

• East Cheaters Chicken Pies
• Beef & Lentil Beany Tacos
• Warming Pumpkin Soup with Pine Nuts & Halloumi

Why not give one a go this week and let me know how it goes down with your family?

Have you got a family favourite that you’d like to share? Click here to send in your recipe and I’ll post my favourites over the next few weeks!!

Click here for more quick, cheap and healthy dinner ideas and follow my blog for regular Kids Tea Tuesdays! xx