This is an easy vegetarian lasagna recipe that I picked from YouTube. I have made the recipe from scratch, including the sheets. It a bit of hard work, but its completely worth it. Usually, Lasagna sheets must be cooked separately and then baked it oven. But I have tried out a different version. I have made thin lasagna sheet and pan cooked in a stove. I want the preparation to be simple, so that everyone could try at home.
Don’t forget to check my tips after the recipe. Lets get cooking!!!
INGREDIANTS:
For Lasagna sheets:
All purpose flour/maida – 1 1/2 cups
Salt – 1 teaspoon
Oil – 2 tablespoons
Water as required
For the filling:
Tomatoes – 2 to 3
Ginger and Garlic – 2 tablespoons
Onion – 1 medium sized
Vegetables of your choice: Beans, Carrots, Green peas
Oil – 1 1/2 tablespoon
Red chili powder – 1 teaspoon
Oregano – 1 teaspoon
Salt as required
Grated cheese – 1/2 cup
PREPARATION:
Lasagna sheets:
Take all purpose flour, salt, oil and add water little by little to make it a soft dough. Knead it for 5 mins. Divide the dough into 4 portions equally and let it rest for about 20 mins. Cover it with a wet cloth to rest the dough.
After resting, take one portion of dough and roll it into a thin sheet. Add dough while rolling, so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom. Make sure that the sheets are of the size of your pan. Otherwise trim the sheets to the correct size of the pan and then dry them.
Take the sheets in a cooking rake or a greased plate and place them to dry for about 20 mins. They will become firm and translucent once dried completely.
While the sheets are drying, lets prepare the filling.
Preparing the filling:
In a pan take oil, add chopped ginger and garlic and sauté for one min. Add finely chopped onions and fry until it turns transparent. After that, add the vegetables one by one to the pan. Fry them until they are half cooked. Also add required salt.
Meanwhile, roughly chop the tomatoes and grind them to a smooth paste and keep it ready.
Once the vegetables are cooked, add the tomato puree to it. Mix well. Also add salt, red chili powder, oregano to it. Mix them all well. Cover it and cook it for 5 mins in medium flame. Once the gravy is cooked, add half cup of water could be added if its too thick. Cook it for another 5 mins and keep this mixture aside.
Assembling the lasagna:
Take the pan you wish to cook the lasagna. Add a layer of gravy or filling first. Sprinkle some grated cheese. On top of it, place one dried lasagna sheet. Add the gravy or filling on the top of the sheet, then grated cheese. Repeat the steps until you place the last sheet. You can finally add grated cheese on the top as a final layer. Additionally you can also add tomato ketchup on the top.
Place this pan on a low flame on the stove for about 15 to 20 mins. The cheese gets melted on the top and the sheets will be cooked.
Serve the lasagna hot with tomato sauce or ketchup. Also sprinkle some black pepper powder, chili fakes or oregano if you like.
TIPS:
- Make sure that the dough is soft and rested well.
- If the dough seems to be sticky, add oil and knead. The more you knead , the softer the dough will become and less sticky.
- While rolling the dough, the all purpose flour has the tendency to shrink after stretching, so roll as thin as possible.
- Also, since we are not cooking the sheets, it is important for the sheets to be thin.
- If the sheets are placed in a non greased plate, it might get stuck and you wont be able to take it out. Preferably use cooking rake for drying them.
- For the filling, vegetables are of your choice.
- You can also add red chili flakes to the gravy mixture and also at the top.
- The gravy needs to be watery, so that the sheets observe the excess water and cooks well.
- The number of layers of the lasagna is absolutely your choice. The more that better.
Remember, the key is to taste the dish at every stage and experiment with it. Let me know in the comments below about your experiment with this recipe.
Please do like and share this recipe. Happy Cooking!!!
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