Bold Bean Co

Directions

1. step 1

   Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan, over a medium heat, and add the carrots, celery, mushroom, bay and onion with ½ a teaspoon of fine salt. Give the mixture a good stir so that the veggies are coated and sweat for 15-20 minutes, stirring intermittently throughout until beginning to soften and the ingredients have shrunk significantly. It may seem like a lot of oil, but when creating a meat-free ragu you need to bring in the fat from elsewhere so don’t be afraid of this!

2. step 2

   Add the garlic, mixed herbs (you can use freshly chopped herbs instead if you have them to hand. Rosemary, thyme and parsley work well) and chilli flakes and mix for one minute on a medium-high heat. If there is still some water in the pan from the mushrooms, cook the mixture a little more until this is reduced and some of the base begins to stick to the bottom.

3. step 3

   Pour in the red wine, deglazing any veg that had begun to caramelise at the bottom of the pan, allowing the alcohol to cook off for about 5-8 minutes. Lower the heat and add the red beans with their stock, breaking them up in your hands as you go to allow some to thicken the sauce. If using unsalted cans, make sure to add a good pinch of salt.

4. step 4

   Heat oven to 180C/fan/160C/gas 4 and lightly oil an ovenproof dish (about 30 x 20cm).

5. step 5

   Tip in the chopped tomatoes and mix through. At this point, add the stock paste, if you’re using a cube, break it up with your fingers into the stew and let it dissolve in the liquid of the stew. Bubble for 20 minutes, adding more water if it becomes too dry. Bubble for a further 6-8 minutes if using cans for that softer texture.

6. step 6

   Spoon one third of the ragu sauce into the dish, then cover with some lasagne sheets from a 300g pack. Drizzle over roughly a third of the ready-made or homemade white sauce. Top each layer of white sauce with a grating of cheddar or parmesan cheese

7. step 7

   Repeat until you have 3 layers of pasta. Cover with the remaining white sauce, making sure you can’t see any pasta poking through.

8. step 8

   Scatter 125g torn mozzarella over the top and more cheddar, if you fancy.

9. step 9

   Bake for 45 mins until the top is bubbling and lightly browned.