Bread was a great love of mine, but it doesn’t really register now. Nor pasta, for the most part. But sometimes you do want to dive into something big, bold, tasty and comforting like a lasagna. This one is perfect as a weekend treat and makes at least 4 triathlete-sized portions!
Lasagnas essentially comprise of repeated layers. The layers are going to be made up of:
· Courgette (taking the place of the pasta sheets)
· Mince
· Tomato sauce
· Cheese
The courgettes are a little fiddly but easy enough. You can create long thing strips, by using the wide blades on a cheese grater. You’ll want about 1-1.5 courgettes worth.
The tomato sauce is easy. I like to use a can of chopped tomatoes, then add a small tin of tomato puree. Just don't pre-buy a 'pasta sauce' as it'll be chocked full of hidden sugar and other funny preservatives. Throw some more sage, basil and oregano in there with some sea salt and cracked black pepper, and mix the lot.
For the cheese, I like to use a combination of cream cheese (full fat, always), mozzarella and a regular hard cheese like cheddar or oude kaas (here in NL).
Take a good sized baking dish and cover the bottom with a layer of the courgette. Then add roughly half of your mince mix and spread over the courgette. You can be really rough with all the spreading with this dish – it’s meant to look rustic! Add about a third of your tomato sauce and spread fairly evenly. For the cheese, don’t be too accurate: drop a few spoonfuls of the cream cheese into a few areas, then tear up some of the mozzarella and throw that on there. You're leaving the cheddar/hard cheese for the top only. Season the whole thing lightly. Then repeat…
You’ll usually get two full layers out of these ingredients. For the top layer, do the above but without the meat. So, your top layer should be courgette, tomato sauce and cheese. This time, add plenty of the grated hard cheese to the top too, and maybe throw on some left over sage, basil and oregano.
Chuck the whole thing in the oven (160C) for around 25 minutes, by which point it should be bubbling and oozing. Remove from the oven, let it settle for a few minutes, and then serve up with a crisp green salad. YUM!