Slow cooker vegetarian lasagne recipe

Crikey, this is out of focus. Many apologies.
It tasted better than it looks here!

I'm posting this with some sadness because I wanted to post a fabulous chicken wings recipe today and I have mislaid the self-created recipe, probably scribbled on the back of some ill-fated envelope somewhere at Cambridge recycling centre. Of course, if you're actually vegetarian, you're in luck because the following will be much more appealing. But I'm sad. I hope it doesn't show. This made a lovely dinner.


Ingredients for 6:

2 large onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb / 250 g mushrooms, sliced
3 large yellow or red peppers, cut into short slices
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup / a large sprig fresh Italian parsley, minced
2 tsp salt
lasagne noodles - to make 3 layers in your slow cooker
   (make sure you get the kind that need no pre-cooking)
650 g / 2 cups cottage cheese
125 g/ 1 cup mozzarella, grated
1 egg, beaten
1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
50 g/ 1/4 cup cheddar, grated

Directions:

Fry the onions off in a large frying pan/ skillet until soft and golden. Add the mushrooms and salt and cook until the mushrooms throw off their liquid - about 5 minutes. Add the peppers and cook for a further 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and ground pepper to the pan and simmer for 5  more minutes. Check the mixture for seasoning. You may want to add some more herbs or salt - you can be fairly heavy-handed on the seasoning with a slow cooker.

In a bowl, mix the mozzarella, the egg, the cottage cheese and the nutmeg.

Having greased your slow cooker pot, put a thin layer of the vegetable mixture into the slow cooker. Then cover with a layer of lasagne noodles. Use a third of the cheese mixture to create the next layer, half the remaining veggies and add another layer of lasagne noodles. Repeat. Finish with a final cheese mixture layer and scatter with grated cheddar.

Cook on Low for 4-6 hours or High for 2 1/2 - 5.

Verdict:

This worked well, like every other lasagne I've tried in the slow cooker. It had a good, fresh flavour and you could go for lots of different herby options - oregano and rosemary would both work well here. It would be perfect if you wanted a lasagne for the middle of summer. We ate it in November though and I would have liked a little more heft. If I was making this again in winter, I'd add some red wine to the veggie mix - just a splash - and I'd probably use a lot more mushrooms. Given the rest of my family don't really go for mushrooms though, I think this will be parked until next summer. As cold weather food, it didn't quite hit the spot for us. If you want a better vegetarian option for winter, do try this potato, mushroom, spinach and gruyere bake which absolutely rocked and was eaten up by my father-in-law who doesn't like veggie food, my mother-in-law who doesn't like potatoes and my husband who doesn't like mushrooms. Given they had copious seconds, I don't think they were just being polite!