Lasagne…

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by Hickmans Slim Kitchen

A firm family favourite in our house, if we could only have 1 meal for the rest of our lives it would be lasagne with a chunk of garlic bread to mop up all those juices left on the plate. Mmm, I am salivating just typing this.

So you can make this with Quorn mince if your prefer, or swap the mince for lentils to suit your own dietary needs just adjust the cooking times accordingly.

Also feel free to change the cheese to your favourites, I like using a mix for full flavour and cheesy goodness. I also use both pork and beef mince for extra flavour plus beef mince is quite expensive so mixing with the pork makes this a cheaper meal but again feel free to just use pork or beef.

Some recommended items from our kitchen to make this dish…

  • A big time saver for chopping veg with a veg chopper, from onions to carrots this is a god send to chop quickly.
  • Double sided dry and liquid measuring spoons for times when you need to measure both liquid and dry ingredients.
  • Cheese grater with varying grater sizes.
  • A decent set of knives for chopping, with a knife sharpener which is always handy.
  • A lot of our dishes are pyrex, great for cooking. Perfect for roasters too and easy to clean.
  • Non-stick milk pan as I love having the lip to make it easier to pour without spillage.
  • Silicone whisks in varying sizes, much prefer silicone to metal as it rusts.

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Lasagne

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

  • Dried lasagne pasta sheets

Meat sauce (this will make plenty for leftovers too):

  • 500g 5% fat beef steak mince
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 sticks celery, finely diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 2 large carrots, grated
  • 1 courgette, grated
  • 2 red bell peppers, deseeded and finely chopped
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 2 500g cartons passata
  • 2 beef oxo cube
  • 2 red wine stock pots, dissolved with 100ml boiling water
  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato puree
  • 1 tablespoon Italian herbs
  • 2 teaspoons oregano

Cheesy béchamel sauce:

  • 2 teaspoons Clover light
  • 1 tablespoon cornflour
  • 200ml whole milk
  • 40g light mature cheddar

You will also need:

  • 40g light mature cheddar
  • 70g light mozzarella

METHOD:

  1. Preheat oven 180°C fan.
  2. In a heavy bottomed saucepan sauté the onion, peppers, garlic and celery until soft.
  3. Add the mince and fry until browned.
  4. Add all the other sauce ingredients and simmer on a low heat until sauce is thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
  5. Make your béchamel sauce…In a milk pan melt the butter over a medium heat, add a little milk to the cornflour to make a paste then mix the rest of the milk in.
  6. Whisk the milk gradually into the melted butter and simmer until thickened, add a little water to thin it down if it gets too thick.
  7. Whisk in the cheese and bring to a steady simmer and simmer on a low heat for a few minutes continuously stirring until the cheese is melted, season with salt and pepper if needed.
  8. In an oven proof dish layer up your lasagne. Layer of mince, pasta, béchamel and repeat these steps until you have used all your mince, make sure you save some béchamel for the top layer. (you will have lots of leftover meat sauce, see below for tips).
  9. Make sure the top layer of pasta has a little more béchamel than the other layers to help prevent burning and going dry whilst cooking.
  10. Add the cheese evenly over the top and bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes or until the pasta is cooked.
  11. Take out the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
  12. Serve alongside a salad or vegetables and a slice of garlic bread if you wish.

NOTES:

  • Store any leftover meat sauce in freezable containers and freeze once cold. Simply defrost and reheat fully before eating.
  • Alternatively cook some penne pasta while everything else is cooking, portion the pasta and meat sauce up into meal prep containers and enjoy for lunches/dinners during the week. Will store in the fridge for a couple of days or freeze for emergency meals.