National Cheese Week runs 5-9 June this year. Not that we need a reason to celebrate Irish cheese in all its glory, oozing on a Shepherd’s Pie or simply paired with chutney on a quality cracker, but the National Dairy Council is taking it one step forward with their national Cheese Up Your Life recipe competition.

After receiving a huge volume of entries across two categories, Hanna Mathe who is studying Culinary Arts at Waterford Institute of Technology won first prize in the Culinary Student category for her delicious Blue Cheese, Kale and Pecan Tart. Whilst amateur chef Roisin Gallagher won first prize in the Passionate Cooks and Foodies category with her innovative take on a classic lasagne.

You can access the recipes, as well as videos on each, at www.ndc.ie

Cheesy Bean Lasagne

By Róisín Gallagher, Dublin

Serves six to eight

For the tomato sauce:

1 tbsp rapeseed oil

1 red onion, finely diced

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped

2 red chillies, finely chopped (plus seeds)

3 tblsp fresh coriander, finely chopped

1 tblsp tomato purée

2 tins chopped tomatoes

1 tsp sugar

100g baby spinach

250ml water

Freshly ground pepper

For the filling:

1 x 400g tin red kidney beans, drained

1 x 400g haricot beans, drained

2 x 250g tins sweetcorn kernels, drained

200g mature Irish cheddar cheese, grated

50g feta cheese, crumbled

4½ soft tortilla wraps, cut into quarters

Handful of pomegranate seeds, to serve

1 tblsp fresh coriander, to serve

For the tomato salsa:

Punnet of cherry tomatoes, quartered

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1 tbsp olive oil

Juice of ½ lime

2 tbsp fresh coriander

salt and pepper

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C/gas mark six.

2 To make the tomato sauce, heat the rapeseed oil in a large frying pan and fry the garlic cloves, red onion, pepper and chilli.

3 Cook gently for 15 minutes until soft; then add the chopped coriander stalks and season with black pepper.

4 Add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, sugar and baby spinach. Allow to simmer until the sauce thickens. If the sauce becomes too dry, loosen it out with some water.

5 To make the filling, mix the drained beans and sweetcorn in a bowl. Add most of the grated cheese, reserving some to sprinkle on the top at the end.

6 Start to assemble the lasagne by spreading about a third of the tomato sauce at the bottom of your ovenproof dish, then layer six tortilla quarters so that they cover the sauce and overlap.

7 Add a third of the beans and cheese mixture. Repeat this step three times.

8 To finish, add the last layer of beans and cheese, nearly all of the remaining tomato sauce and cover with the last six tortilla quarters. Spread the very last bit of sauce over the tortillas and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

9 Cook in the oven for 30 minutes, and rest for 10 minutes before serving.

10 While, the lasagne is cooking, prepare your tomato salsa by combining all of your ingredients.

11 To serve, sprinkle over the crumbled feta cheese, pomegranate seeds and fresh coriander. CL

Serving suggestion: tomato salsa, guacamole, natural yoghurt, corn on the cob, limes and toasted sunflower seeds.