Happy Meat Free Monday lazy Green people!

I don’t know about you, but I’m really starting to notice the autumn kicking in! The days are getting a little darker and it’s almost time to stop living in my flip flops! But I’m actually really excited – despite a sorrowful goodbye to the heat of summer – I’m really looking forward to comfy jumpers, hot chocolates and beautiful orange leafed trees.

To celebrate this borderline period between summer and autumn, I thought I would share this warming veggie Bolognese Bake, using the deliciously filling summer marrow. It’s a great gluten free recipe – as the marrow replaces lasagne sheets – and it’s naturally dairy free and vegan friendly. It’s also one of the laziest recipes I know, which can be easily adapted to whatever you have at home.

 Summer Marrow Bolognaise Bake

Ingredients

• 1 large marrow, sliced into 1cm thick disks
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 vine tomatoes, sliced
• 2 tbsp. tomato puree
• ¼ pint of vegetable stock
• 3 cups of soya mince (make sure it is egg free if you are vegan)
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1 tsp. dried sage
• ½ courgette, finely chopped
• Small handful of mushrooms

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°c
2. Heat a tbsp. of oil in a pan and brown the onion, garlic, courgette and mushrooms.
3. On a griddle pan, gently fry the marrow disks for a few minutes on each side. Then put to the side for layering.
4. Add your mince to the pan with the onions and vegetables. Fry for a couple of minutes, before adding the chopped tomatoes and puree. Pour in the stock and cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes until the sauce had begun to thicken.
5. Stir the sage into the mixture and begin layering the marrow slices into a large casserole dish; alternating between marrow and bolognaise mixture. Finish off with a topping of marrow and tomato slices, with a few springs of fresh herbs (I used rosemary).
6. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and enjoy with a large glass of wine!!