Pasta Free Lasagna
Serves: 4
Time: 70 mins
Lasagna is one of those comfort foods that I think I will love forever but it doesn’t have to be traditional. Today we are taking a healthy twist on the classic and replacing the pasta sheets with zucchini strips, and replacing the classic white sauce with a cauliflower base which has become a bit of a staple around here, simply because it is not only easier to create, but in my opinion, tastes just as good.
Leftovers
You should have more than enough for leftovers, and if you aren’t in need of lunch tomorrow then why not freeze it down for an emergency dinner.
What you'll need
1/2 red onion
4 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 celery stalks (optional)
500g of mince (I prefer lamb but you could always use pork, beef, chicken or turkey)
1/2 a bunch of basil
2 tins of whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 cauliflower
1 cup of milk
3 zucchini
1 broccoli
From the pantry
olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup of red wine (optional)
Red Wine Supply
I cook a lot with red wine so I use cask wine - it seems to last forever and it's guaranteed to not get drunk, so it is always on hand for a splash or cup here and there. My choice is 4L Shiraz Cab by Stanley wines. Save your good wine for drinking.
Prep and Cook
Preheat Oven to 180c
Prep Sauce
Put a large pot of water on to boil.
Finely dice your onion and garlic and roughly chop your basil.
Peel and finely dice carrots and wash and dice the celery.
Sauté all together in a large pot with a teaspoon of olive oil on a high heat until soft.
Add your red wine and bring up to the boil then continue to bubble until it has reduced down by half.
Swill out the can
I always swill my can out and add the water. Why? Well there are multiple reasons; often tomatoes are very acidic in flavour and I like to thin mine down a little so that it will soften the initial taste but also it will stretch the mix out, which means that they will take longer to reduce and as a result will have more time to cook and develop that richer sweeter flavour. Added bonus, the cans are clean for recycling.
Add your whole peeled tomatoes crushing them by hand as you go, then swill out the cans with water and add this to the sauce.
Bring up to the boil then turn down to a simmer.
Simmer gently till your sauce begins to reduce and start to turn a lovely rich red. Approx 25 mins
Fry Mince
In a large frypan heat a tablespoon of oil.
Crumble half your mince into the pan and season well with salt and pepper.
You want to fry the meat till golden brown and almost to the point where it is going crispy (this is where you gain the flavour, it takes a bit of time bit is worth it for the end result).
Add to the sauce, then repeat with the second batch of your mince.
Add this to the sauce as well then continue to cook for a further 15 minutes.
Make White Sauce
Cut cauliflower into florets and add to your pot of boiling water. Cook till soft.
Strain off the water and add your milk and use a stick blender to blitz till smooth.
If you had any leftover labne or goats cheese, you could mix these in now.
Season with salt.
Slice Zucchini
Slice your zucchini nice and thin long ways; you want to get about 6 slices out of each zucchini.
Assemble Lasagna
Before you assemble, check the seasoning in both mixtures (you should continuously be tasting as you go but if you haven't, always make sure to check before you start to assemble).
Start with the meat mixture and fill the base of a baking dish with the entire mix.
Spread over your white sauce and lay out the slices of zucchini so that they are just slightly overlapping until you have completely covered the surface.
Brush the tops of the zucchini with olive oil and give a light sprinkling of salt then bake in the oven for 30 minutes.
Cook Broccoli
Wash out your cauliflower pot and fill with water and bring up to the boil.
Once your lasagna is ready to come out of the oven, drop your broccoli florets in for 2 minutes.
Drain and serve plain on the side with your lasagna.
Enjoy!
Lunch tomorrow
This is a fabulous leftover lunch, all you need to do is scoop it into a microwave safe dish, ready to heat and eat at lunch time. Winning.