In a world where so much food goes to waste it seems crazy to me that most people just throw away their Jack o Lanterns after Halloween when there’s so much you can do with them.

For this recipe I’ve gone for a Cajun/Italian fusion and it’s perfect for this time of year now that the evenings are crisp.

Serves 4 

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tin of black beans. drained

1/4 pumpkin, peeled and cubed

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp cayenne pepper

Drizzle of olive oil

100g of vegan cheese, grated

6 lasagne sheets

Salt

1 tbsp of vegan butter

1 tbsp of plain flour

1/2 a litre of dairy free milk (I used soya)

Method

Preheat oven to 200°C

In a pan, fry the onion and garlic in olive oil for around 5 minutes until they start to cook.

Add the tomato, pumpkin and black beans.

Stir in ginger, cumin, paprika and cayenne pepper and salt to taste and bring to boil.

Turn down the heat, put the lid on the pan and simmer for around 20 minutes.

In another pan, melt the butter and then stir in the flour to make a roux paste.

Remove from the heat and stir in some of the milk until the roux melts and there are no lumps.

Return to heat and add the rest of the milk gradually, stirring until the bechamel sauce thickens in to a nice consistency.

Stir in about 1/4 of the grated cheese.

To layer the lasagne, spread half of the vegetable mixture in a lasagne dish.

Place 3 of the lasagne sheets on top, covering the vegetable mixture.

Spread half of the bechamal sauce evenly on top of the lasagne sheets.

Repeat, vegetable mixture, lasagne sheets and bechamal sauce for another layer.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.

Place in the oven for 45 minutes/1hr.

Serve