Ink'n'burn Lasagne

Anyone who follows me on Twitter (@danrunning) will know how much I cook. I have a full time job and have just started personal training in my spare time, but if there is one job I love to do it's cook for my family.

I make all sorts of food and bake my own speciality breads. And over the years my tastes have changed and the various wants of my family have demanded different types of food. For a while I was vegetarian, even vegan for a few months. I've made everything from Sushi to sausage and mash, from Japanese to Jerky!!!

So when Ink'n'burn asked me to come up with a recipe I cast my mind back and this one fits the bill perfectly.

Ink'n'burn lasagne came about as a result of an evolving recipe and is a firm family favourite. It's vegetarian, quite a light meal, cheap to make, great as a post run lunch and can be tweaked depending on your tastes.

It has a dark red sauce (Ink) and a good hit of chilli (Burn).

So, here my recipe for ink'n'burn lasagne, use it, change it, do what you like, but I guarantee you'll love it.

1 onion
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 green chilli
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
2 cans of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
500 ml vegetable stock
smoked paprika
tabasco sauce
dried lasagne sheets
cheese (if desired).

Chop the onion, peppers and chillis and cook on a medium heat with a good glug of olive oil and some sea salt and black pepper. When they have all softened and the mixture smells sweet, add the drained chick peas and then the tomatoes.
 

 
 
Once its all cooked add a good teaspoon of smoked paprika and the vegetable stock. The add 2 tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. It will make the sauce dark and once it cooks off, it will balance the sweetness perfectly. Drop the heat to a light simmer, put a lid on it and leave it to carry on cooking for 20 minutes.

 
 
 
 
 
 
Taste for seasoning, it should be awesome, add tabasco or chilli sauce if you like and then start building up the layers.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Use a slotted spoon to remove some of the sauce form the pan and place in a baking/stoneware/lasagne dish. Once the bottom is covered, cover with dried lasagne sheets and continue doing this until you have just some tomato sauce in the pan and  the dish is covered with dry lasagne, now pour the sauce over the top. Add cheese if you like II use mozzarella) and leave it to rest for 30 minutes, the pasta will soften and soak up the sauce.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At this point you can cool and chill it, if its for another day. Or, bake it at 200 degree centigrade (400 deg f) for about 30 minutes or until its all bubbling and hot. If you've not added cheese, put some foil on top for a while to stop it drying out.

Serve with a ton of salad and enjoy with a cold beer!

In my house this is just lasagne, but it suits the tag Ink'n'burn lasagne, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

In the writing of this recipe I had to google chick peas for a translation and centigrade - farenheit for the conversion. If they're the wrong details blame google, not me.