mexican inspired lasagne — Combining two of my favourite cuisines: Mexican and Italian. Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!

**prep time** 25 mins **total time** 1 hour
**serves** 4-6

Not really lasagne, and not really Mexican, but this recipe is a bit of fun. Using ingredients such as beans, tortillas, sweetcorn and spices, and layering them all up like you would a lasagne, this recipe is fun, easy and ideal for students and beginner cooks.

All you need for this recipes is beans (I used black beans), sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes, red pepper, onion and garlic, and some chilli powder. Optional extras include some vegan cheese and nutritional yeast for topping. I’ve kept these ingredients super basic so they’re accessible from the pantry, and make it that much easier for beginners and those on a budget to give it a go.

It only takes a few parts to layer up this recipe. Starting with the sauce you want to fry up the onions, garlic and pepper, and then add in your chilli powder for a kick. Feel free to add cumin, coriander, cinnamon or any other spices you enjoy into this step for added depth of flavour.

Adding in the chopped tomatoes, some ketchup for richness, and stock will create your lasagne sauce base.

The other part of the lasagne layers is the beans. I’ve kept it simple here by mixing up the black beans and sweetcorn with a generous amount of nutritional yeast, some oregano, and salt and pepper seasoning. You could also add in some vegan cheese to this if you like.

Once you have your parts, you can start layering. Using a large oven-proof dish (ideally the width of a tortilla wrap) start by layering a third of your sauce to the base of the pan. Next top with a tortilla wrap - you’ll need to trim this, but don’t worry about it being too perfect. I simply cut on each side of the circle.

On top of the first tortilla, you can then layer your bean mixture. I also added in some vegan cheese to layer, for some melty cheesiness. Repeat three times, finishing with a tortilla wrap. You can top the whole mixture with nutritional yeast, and some vegan cheese - I used Violife’s Epic Mature, as it’s one of my absolute favourites. You can also drizzle a little olive oil on top, because some vegan cheese can dry up when baked in an oven.

Then all it needs is 30 minutes in the oven, and you have yourself a delicious and fun recipe that is ideal for sharing.

Ingredients

2 tbsp oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 red pepper, deseeded and diced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp cumin
Dash of cinnamon
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
Salt & pepper
1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves garlic, crushed/grated on chopped)
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tins black beans (red kidney beans or any bean is fine)
1 tin sweetcorn
1 vegetable stock cube
4 tortilla wraps
4 tbsp nutritional yeast (plus extra for sprinkling) or vegan cheese

METHOD

Pre-heat oven to 200˚C/400˚F.
Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onions and pepper, and cook on medium heat until softened. Add the spices, and cook for another minute or two.
Add the tomatoes, rinse out the tin and add that too. Stir through, then add the ketchup, sprinkle in the stock cube and season to taste.
Reduce the heat and cover, leaving to simmer for about 15 mins until the sauce has thickened slightly.
Mix the beans with the nutritional yeast.
Now start assembling by taking a third of the tomato sauce and spreading at the bottom of an oven proof dish. Cut a tortilla wrap to fit, remember this doesn’t need to be perfect!
Next spread a third of the bean mixture and then repeat twice, ending up with a layer of tortillas on top. Top with extra nutritional yeast or vegan cheese, and bake in oven for 30 mins.