LASAGNE
Lasagne is such a good crowd pleaser, and great for making in advance. I’ve added lentils to mine to stretch the mince further – I reckon it tastes just as good!
This recipe does take a little over an hour from start to finish, but it’s well worth the effort! You’ll also have plenty of time while it cooks to get all the dishes cleared up.
You could definitely stretch the number of servings to 5 or 6, especially when served with garlic bread and a big salad.
Leave a comment below and let me know what you think. Did you like the addition of lentils? This was one of those meals where I managed to trick Royce – he thought it was all mince!
LASAGNE
Lasagne is such a good crowd pleaser, and great for making in advance. I’ve added lentils to mine to stretch the mince further - I reckon it tastes just as good!
Ingredients
LASAGNE
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 400 g prime beef mince (14oz)
- 1 beef stock cube
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 400 g canned Italian flavoured crushed tomatoes (14oz)
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 400 g canned brown lentils in spring water, drained (14oz)
- 30 g butter (1.1oz)
- 3 Tbsp plain flour
- 2 cups milk (500ml)
- 4 instant lasagne sheets (approximately)
- 2 cups grated Colby cheese (200g)
TO SERVE
- Garlic bread (optional)
- 1 Lebanese cucumber
- 1 tomato
- 1 avocado
- 100 g mesclun lettuce (3.5oz)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp wholegrain mustard
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
Instructions
PREPARE LASAGNE
Crush garlic. Heat oil in a large non-stick pot on medium-high. Add garlic and mince and cook, breaking mince up with a wooden spoon, until browned all over.
Stir in crumbled stock cube, oregano and tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes, then add tomatoes, sugar and lentils. Reduce heat to medium. Simmer, stirring occasionally, while you prepare other ingredients.
Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF) fan bake. Melt butter in a medium-sized non-stick saucepan on medium-low. Once butter is bubbling, stir in flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk, to form a smooth sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes, until sauce thickens (it should coat the back of a wooden spoon). Season both sauce and mince mixture with salt and pepper.
Cover the base of an oven-safe dish (28cm x 17cm /11in x 7in) with lasagne sheets - you should need 1 1/3 sheets per layer. Spread one third of the mince mixture over the top, followed by one third of the béchamel sauce and one third of the cheese. Repeat to form two more layers. Bake for 30-35 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling, and pasta is cooked.
PREPARE SERVING INGREDIENTS
Check packet instructions for cooking garlic bread, if using, and prepare accordingly. Slice cucumber, cut tomato into wedges and slice avocado. Place in a salad bowl with lettuce. Whisk together oil, vinegar, mustard and sugar and season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle over salad and toss to combine.
SERVE
Remove lasagne from oven and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve portions of lasagne with salad and garlic bread.
Recipe Notes
WINE MATCH: A Pinot Noir.
GLUTEN-FREE OPTION: Use a gluten-free stock cube. Replace plain flour with plain gluten-free flour. Use gluten-free lasagne sheets. Replace garlic bread with with a warmed gluten-free artisan loaf and butter or garlic butter.
INGREDIENT SWAPS / NOTES: If you don’t want to use lentils, increase quantity of beef mince to 600g / 1lb 5oz. Make sure you use lasagne sheets that don’t require pre-cooking.
MAKE AHEAD: Lasagne can be assembled earlier in the day and refrigerated until ready to cook. Can also be cooked and then reheated in the oven (you may want to cover it in foil for part of the time to prevent excessive browning).
STORING AND REHEATING: Store lasagne separate to salad. Reheat lasagne in microwave. Dress salad just before serving.
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2 Comments
Made this for dinner tonight. It was so good! And no one noticed the lentils 🙂
Thanks for a great recipe!
Thanks for your feedback Rhonda (and apologies for the delayed response!). So pleased to hear this recipe worked well for you! 😊