(no, it doesn’t contain toucan. I think that would be illegal in this country. It’s called that because the basic ingredients are two cans of things, and it’s pretty colourful.)

This is a recipe I came up with while working as a cook at a Youth Hostel in Scotland during the summer of 1993, refined during further summer seasons there in 94 and 96, and all the intervening years as a poor student. It’s filling and tasty and quick, and astonishingly easy to make.

Ingredients:
2 onions
2 courgettes
2 carrots
1 small punnet of baby corn (thai style)
3 peppers (pimientos)
1 can kidney beans (drained)
1 can chopped tomatoes
Lasagne sheets
Grated cheese
Flour, butter, milk, mustard, cayenne pepper, oregano, basil, 1 tsp pesto, parsely, salt, pepper, olive oil.

Method:
Saute onions in olive oil for a few minutes. Add courgettes, peppers and corn, as you chop them and dump them in. Add herbs and spices. Wait a few minutes. Stir. Add kidney beans and tomatoes. Add chopped carrots. Stir. Simmer on low heat for 10 mins.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Make a roux with butter and flour (melt butter gently, then add flour a little at a time, stirring constantly, to make a thick paste, and then eventually a soft ball of dough in the pan.) Add salt. Keep it moving for a few minutes to cook the flour. Add a handful of grated cheese. Add a spoonfull of grainy mustard. Add cayenne pepper. Stir until it all globs together in a a ball. Add milk SLOWLY, a tiny bit at a time, stirring into the flour mixture between additions. Add milk really slowly and gradually until the dough becomes loose. Then add more at a time, but not too much, between each addition, stir thoroughly over a low heat, ensuring the smooth consistency of the sauce.. When it’s slightly too runny, turn off the heat and keep stirring - the sauce will thicken as the flour cooks through.

OR… cheat and use packet cheese sauce.

Get a big shallow dish, and layer the vegetables/lasagne/sauce twice. Top with sauce and grated cheese/parmesan and sprinkling of cayenne pepper.

Whack in a medium hot oven for 25-35 minutes, until pasta has gone soft (check with a knife) and the cheese on top is bubbling and browned.

Serve with huge hunks of crusty bread and butter, and love.