Ingredients:
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 brown onions
• 2 large carrots
• Minced garlic (big heaped teaspoon)
• 400g of diced tomatoes
• 1 sachet of tomato paste
• 2x 400g of brown lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 bunch of spinach.
• x3 stalks of celery
White sauce ingredients:
• 3 cups of milk
• 100g of butter
• 1/2 of plain flour
• 30g of parmesan finely grated
Method:
Step 1:
Heat 1tbs of oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add chopped-up onions, carrots, celery, and garlic into the pan. Cook, stirring often, for 2-5minutes (until veggies become soft). Put tomato paste into the bottom of the frying pan and let cook for ~1min. Stir in tomatoes, lentils, spinach, and 1/2 water. Season with salt and other preferred seasonings. Simmer for 8-10minutes, until thickened. Set aside.
Step 2:
For the white sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour slowly and stir for 1-minute or until the mixture bubbles. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk until smooth. Stir over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in the parmesan until melted. Remove from heat and stir until sauce is smooth.
Step 3:
Preheat over to 180C/160C fan-forced
Grease a 1.5L baking dish
Pour the lentil mixture over the base of the prepared dish
Spoon the white sauce over the lentil mixture
Bake in the oven for around 35-40mins.
Recipe By: Becky Schlegel