Lasagna

This is my favourite. What Italian doesn’t love a good lasagna.

I have to admit that I do not make the pasta sheets myself. That is definitely something I am looking to explore…but I fear that making gluten free pasta is not for the faint-hearted.

Serves 4.

Cooking and Preparation time: 1 hour.

Ingredients:

1. Olive oil

2. An onion

3. 500g of minced beef

4. 1 tin of chopped plum tomatoes

5. 8-10 sheets of gluten free lasagna (my favourite is “La Buona Vita”)

6. A pinch of Oregano

7. Some Parmesan, grated.

8. 60g butter

9. 40g gluten free flour

10. 500ml of blue milk

11. A handful of grated mozzarella

Method:

Heat the olive oil and sweat the onion in a large pan. Add the minced beef and stir until cooked and brown all over. Once this is cooked, add the chopped tomatoes and a pinch of oregano. Fill up the empty tomato tin with a little water (say half the can) and mix this in also. Lower the heat and allow this to simmer gently for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 6/7 / 200c and crack on with making the sauce while you are waiting for the mince to simmer beautifully. I bet it smells good already.

Now I found it hard to crack the white sauce myself. It’s very demanding and requires a lot of nurture. So the first few times I made it, I did in fact have Tesco Gluten Free Lasagna White Sauce in my cupboard handy (this is great if you slip up – very good). However if you are feeling brave (go on, give it a go) then here is the white sauce:

Melt the butter in a small pan on a low heat. Stir in a small amount of the gluten free flour (add this bit by bit) and whisk. Then add in very small amounts of the milk. The trick is to stir this in bit by bit. Stir gently and constantly until it becomes thick and creamy. If it is too thick and sticks, you need more milk but do not add too much. Stir in a little grated Parmesan and a little grated mozzarella (just a little).

Add some of the bolognese mixture to the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Then some lasagna sheets. Then some white sauce followed by some grated mozzarella. Continue to make these layers until the dish is full. I like to finish with a layer of the white sauce followed by a sprinkle of grated parmesan.

Cook for around 30 minutes. When it is golden brown test that the pasta is soft enough to eat and you can cut through. Leave to cool before serving. Use basil to finish.