45 mins
Not Too Tricky
serves 6
About the recipe
Twisted, rustic layers of beautiful lasagne and delicate veg that can be cooked, baked and served in just one pan. Enjoy!
Ingredients
1 leek
50g unsalted butter
olive oil
500g asparagus
50g plain flour
2 teaspoons English mustard
800ml semi-skimmed milk
300g fresh or frozen peas
300g fresh or frozen broad beans
½ a bunch of fresh mint (15g)
80g Parmesan cheese, plus extra to serve
80g mature Cheddar cheese
250g fresh lasagne sheets
50g blanched almonds
optional: 1 lemon
optional: green pesto, to serve
Top Tip
Finely slice the green part of the leek to break down fibrous texture, then as you move towards the white part switch to chunkier 1cm-slices.
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6.
- Wash, trim and slice 1 leek (see tip) and place in a large shallow ovenproof pan on a medium-low heat with 50g of unsalted butter and a splash of olive oil.
- Line up 500g of asparagus, trim off the woody ends, then finely slice and add the stems to the pan, reserving the tips for later.
- Season with sea salt and black pepper, then fry on a medium-low heat for 10 minutes, or until sweet, soft and delicious, stirring regularly and adding a splash of water, if needed.
- Stir in 50g of plain flour, followed by 2 teaspoons of English mustard, and slowly stir in 800ml of semi-skimmed milk to give you a loose white sauce, then leave to blip away for a few minutes.
- Stir in 300g each of peas and broad beans and leave to warm through while you rip off, roughly chop and stir in the leaves from ½ a bunch of fresh mint (15g).
- Smash up the veg for 1 minute with a potato masher, then grate in 70g each of Parmesan and Cheddar and add the asparagus tips.
- Tear in the pasta sheets, mix up really well to coat and separate, then pull some of the sheets to the top to create a top layer – use the back of a spoon to create some dips and wells.
- Roughly bash the almonds so you have a mixture of fine and chunky bits, then sprinkle on top and grate over the remaining 10g each of Parmesan and Cheddar cheese. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a few scrapings of lemon zest (if using).
- Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Serve topped with a little dollop of pesto (if using), a crunchy green salad and an extra grating of Parmesan, if you like.
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