Chickpea lasagna

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 m.-sized onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 100 g bulgur
• 400 ml water
• 2 large beefsteak tomatoes or 1 large beefsteak tomato and 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• e.g. tomato paste
• e.g. vegetable broth
• cumin
• 25 g margarine
• 25 g flour
• 300 ml soy milk (soy drink)
• nutmeg
• salt and pepper
• 300 g chickpea flour
• 500 ml water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• n. B. Spice(s) of your choice
• possibly yeast flakes or yeast melt

Instructions

Working time approx. 45 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes

vegan lasagna with chickpea pancakes as plates

First, prepare the tomato and bulgur filling, then mix the béchamel sauce, and finally, prepare the pancakes. While you’re preparing the pancakes, layer the ingredients in the baking dish. For the tomato and bulgur filling, dice the onions and garlic cloves. Heat a little oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic. Now dice the beefsteak tomato. When the onions are translucent, add the bulgur and tomato paste, fry briefly, then deglaze with the beefsteak tomatoes (or the beefsteak tomatoes and canned tomatoes) and the water (vegetable stock). Season with cumin, salt, and pepper, and if desired, add other spices (e.g., smoked paprika). Simmer the mixture for 15–20 minutes, until the bulgur is cooked and the vegetable stock and tomatoes have combined to create a nice sauce. While the bulgur filling is simmering, prepare the béchamel sauce. I don’t use a bay leaf, but you can find recipes for vegan béchamel sauce with bay leaves by searching. First, melt the margarine in a small saucepan, then stir in the flour so that no lumps form. Reduce the heat and gradually add the soy milk while stirring until you have a nice sauce. Now season with a good pinch of nutmeg and a little salt and pepper. Let the béchamel sauce simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally. Finally, prepare the pancakes. To do this, mix all the ingredients (chickpea flour, water, oil, and a pinch of salt) in a medium bowl. By now, the bulgur filling should be almost ready. Heat a little oil in a pan and fry the pancakes until golden brown on both sides. As soon as a pancake is done, transfer it to the baking dish. I need two pancakes per layer for my large casserole dish. Now alternate layers of pancakes, bulgur filling, pancakes, and béchamel sauce in the dish. Finish with béchamel sauce. The amount of filling, béchamel, and pancakes in my large casserole dish is a bit small, so I do: pancakes, filling, pancakes, béchamel, filling, pancakes, filling, pancakes, béchamel. If you like, you can sprinkle nutritional yeast or yeast mixture on top; I find it delicious without it, too. Now bake the lasagna at 175–200°C (350–400°F) on the middle rack until the last layer of béchamel has a nice brown color. This takes me about 15–25 minutes. As a main course, it should serve at least 4 people. Instead of lasagna sheets, I use chickpea pancakes, following the recipe “Chickpea Pancakes” from “Dialog,” which you can find by searching. However, I use only a little oil compared to the recipe – about every 2-3 pancakes a new slug is added to the pan.