Here is a great vegetarian dish that you can make as a large gratin, or put out as individual bakes, Lentil & Mushroom Gratin, for this you will need 500gms red lentils, 5 peeled and grated carrots, 1 celery heart peeled and finely sliced, 1 onion finely chopped, 500 gms button mushrooms sliced, 4 garlic cloves, bunch of curly parsley finely chopped, 250gms grated mozzarrella and cheddar mix, s'n'p to season. Firstly you will need a med size pan, and a large mixing bowl, i am always accused of making too much washing up, so i try to do things in an order so as to keep things to as not to create too much washing up for Jane.

     To begin with, saute of the onion in a little olive oil, add the lentils and stir to coat, add enough water to cover the lentils and cook slowly until the lentils are just cooked and absorbed the water, please do not overcook them as the will be going into the oven later, season generously, as lentils need to be, tip out into bowl. Next saute carrot and celery into pan with a little olive oil until tender, season well, and add this to the lentil mix and stir well until combined. Next saute the mushrooms in a little olive oil, grate the garlic cloves into the mushrooms, take off the heat and allow to cool before stirring in the parsley, you do not want to cook the parsley. Now into a large gratin(oven proof) dish, spoon in 1/2 lentil mix, then place all the mushroom mix on top,  then top the rest of the lentil mix and smooth over, if you have too much mix left over dont worry as it can be used to make a soup or stuff vegetables with, it wont go to waste, next sprinkle over the cheese mix, palce on a tray and bake in the oven, moderate temp(180-190/4-5) until the cheese gratins and form a crisp crust. I like to serve this with a nice mixed leaf salad and warm bread, good bottle of wine.  

                        good eating Jane & Sam.