Lasagne with lentils and tomato sauce

This recipe is a bit more work than your average mid-week dinner but worth it. 

There's two parts to this:
Lentil & tomato sauce
1 cup brown lentils
1 bay leaf                                                             3 med sized onions
3 cloves garlic                                                      2 tbspns oil
100g mushrooms (optional)                                 1 green capsicum (optional)
1 (425g) can tomato puree                                   1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram                                                     1 tsp oreganum
1/4 tsp thyme                                                        1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt                                                             black pepper
Method for the sauce
1. Rinse lentils and cover with plenty of water and boil with the bay leaf until tender.
2. While cooking the lentils, finely chop the onions and saute with the crushed, chopped garlic in the oil until tender.
3. Add the sliced mushies and diced green pepper (if you want) and continue to cook until the onion is soft and clear.

4. Pour in the tomato puree, then add the herbs, sugar, salt & pepper. Simmer for a few mins over a low heat allowing flavours to blend.
5. Stir in the cooked lentils. The flavour improves if you let it stand for a while, but you can use it immediately.

Lasagne
You've already made the sauce (above) so the topping is as follows:
Topping
3 tbspns butter
3 tbspns plain flour
2 cups milk (I use soy but i think cow milk might be better in this)
1/2 tsp salt
grated nutmeg
black pepper
2 cups (200g) grated cheese (tasty cheddar)
2 eggs
lasagne sheets from a box
paprika
Method
1. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan then stir in the flour.
2. Cook for 30 secs, stirring continuously.
3. Add about a third of the milk & bring to boil, allowing mixture to thicken.
4. Add another third of the milk & bring to the boil again, stirring vigorously to ensure no lumps.
5. Stir in the last of the milk, then bring to the boil again, remove from the heat and stir in the seasonings and grated cheese. You might have to reheat it to melt the cheese but do not boil it again as the cheese goes awful.
6. Remove from heat and beat in eggs.
7. With a large shallow casserole dish, spread a thin layer of lentil sauce (about a quarter) over the bottom. Arrange lasagne sheets in a layer over this.
9. Spread half of the remaining lentil & tomato mixture on top.
10. Pour over half of the cheese sauce. Spread more lasagne sheets on top.
12. Spread remaining lentil mixture over top. Top with remaining cheese sauce and sprinkle with paprika!
13. Bake at 150 degrees C/(about) 300 degrees F for 45 mins or until the top is firm.

Baked Risotto with Zucchini, Tomato & Parmesan

This is a delightful little number. Whenever you need comfort food on a cold winters night or a shot of serious carbs, this is just what the doctor ordered. It has good leftover potential and you can mix n match the ingredients if you' re missing something. I've made this with zukes, but also with mushrooms. This one was made with mushies and Spanish onion as I was out of white onions:

Ingredients
2 tablespns extra virgin olive oil (preferably from the Blackheath farmers market!)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 teaspn of sea salt
1 cup Arborio rice
1 1/2 cups of veggie stock (meat eaters can use chicken stock, straight from the bird)
400g tin of chopped roma tomatoes
3 zucchini (courgettes) finely chopped
60g freshly grated Parmesan (preferably from Baldies! local deli Katoomba)
Freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespns finely chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
 Optional - shavings of Parmesan cheese for serving

Method
1. Pre-heat over to 200 degrees C/392 degrees F
2. Heat 3 litre (12 cups) capacity ovenproof dish (a casserole dish is good) with a lid over medium heat ( I tend to skip this step and move straight to the food preparation; also my casserole lid is broken so I use foil over the top)
3. Add the olive oil, onion and sea salt and stir for 5 mins or so until the onion is soft and translucent
4. Add the Arborio rice to the dish and stir for another minute.
5. Add the stock and chopped tomatoes and bring to simmering point.
6. Stir in zucchini (or mushrooms if you are using them) and sprinkle with Parmesan and black pepper.
7. Cover the dish with the lid (or foil) and bake the risotto for 30 mins or until the rice is cooked.
8. Scatter parsley over the top, sprinkle with Parmesan shavings if desired and mix them through the rice.

This is great to make on a Sunday night and then have it for din dins the following night while you indulge in a bit of Monday night telly.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Well, I got carried away on Friday night, lashing out on six delicious large mushies. These little guys can be stuffed with all sorts of lovelies. Due to a lack of decent spinach at the supermarket I had to stuff the little blighters with something else. These are tasty . . .

Stuffed Mushrooms
Ingredients
8 large mushrooms (the big variety)
1 tablespn olive oil
1 small leek, chopped
1 celery stick, chopped
100 g firm tofu (mine was mixed with peanut satay sauce, perfectly OK in this recipe)
1 courgette (zucchini, or zukes), chopped
1 carrot, chopped
100 g/1 cup wholemeal breadcrumbs (mine were out of date so just grate some brown bread in lieu)
2 tablespns chopped basil
1 tablespn tomato puree (paste)
2 tablespns pine kernels/nuts
75 g/ 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
150 ml/2/3 cup vege stock
salt n pepper
green salad, to serve

Method
1. Remove the stalks from the mushrooms and chop finely.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the chopped mushroom stalks, leek, celery, tofu, zucchini, and carrot and cook for 3 - 4 mins, stirring.
3. Stir in the breadcrumbs, basil, tomato puree/paste and pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms and top with the cheese.
5. Place the mushies in a shallow ovenproof dish and pour the veggie stock around them.
6. Cook in pre-heated over at 220 degrees C/425 degrees F/Gas Mark 7 for 20 mins or until cooked through and the cheese has melted. Remove the mushrooms and serve immediately with the green salad.