Best Meatless Lasagne - Thumbs up from my Dinner Guests

I don’t know how I found this site Moodie Foodie and decided to keep this recipe, but I’m so glad I did
It made the tastiest sauce.
Jay The Blogger said it fed 6... there were only 4 of us and we ate it all
Jay is more about lighter calorie food than me.

I have upped the fat content, but I still think it is pretty healthy
If you want to be gluten free, use eggplant or potato instead of pasta
And cornflour instead of wheat flour

Also there was plenty of sauce.

Enough for me to freeze for another day
So for Vege Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
400g field mushrooms, finely chopped
160g (1 large) onion, chopped
200g (3) celery stalks, finely chopped
180g (1 large) zucchini, finely chopped
100g (1 large) carrots, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
1½ cups stock, chicken or vege
60g (1/3 cup) red lentils
2 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
Salt & pepper

Bechamel Sauce
50 gms butter
1 small onion, finely sliced
50 gms flour
1 cup stock
1 cup whole milk
Pepper

1 packet lasagne sheets, preferably the no pre-cooking kind
½ cup grated tasty cheese

For the best result with the vegetables, I chopped them in the food processor
I also do this when making meat sauce, particularly when cooking for kids who are a bit fussy.

Spray a largish rectangular casserole dish with oil.
I used a 30 x 20 cm dish this was perfect for the lasagne noodles that I used

Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and add mushrooms, onion, celery, zucchini, carrots and garlic with a pinch of salt.
Cook on a medium-low heat for 8 minutes until softened.
Add tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, lentils, oregano, bay leaves and sugar
and bring to the boil.
Check for seasoning,
Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes until fragrant.
Remove bay leaves.
Stir through parsley.

While vege sauce is cooking, make the Béchamel:
In a non-stick (if you have one) saucepan, heat oil on low.
Add onion with a pinch of salt.
Cook for 6-8 minutes on low until onion is softened.
Add flour and continue to cook for a minute or so until flour has been incorporated. Remove saucepan from heat and slowly whisk in stock and milk.
Return pan to the heat and bring to a simmer,
Simmering for about 5 minutes until sauce thickens.

To assemble lasagne:
Slap a good couple of spoonfuls of the sauce in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish and top with a layer of lasagne sheets.
Top with 3 large ladlefuls of the sauce, This should cover the dish
Add another layer of lasagne sheets,
Then half the Béchamel.
Another 3 large ladlefuls of the sauce
Another layer of lasagne sheets
Top with the remaining Béchamel

Heat oven to 200°c

Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes.
Remove the foil, sprinkle over the cheese 
Continue to bake a further 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Serve with a big salad and you’ll be happy all night long.

I reckon some Garlic bread would also be a great accompaniment
And that way you could feed 6 people.

For great Garlic Pizza Bread  click here

A Particularly nice Lasagne

Our friend Mary was coming around to watch the rugby
What better to eat out of a bowl on your lap but Lasagne
Also, I had all of the ingredients handy
Which is excellent when one is housebound

I actually went to quite a bit of trouble with the components and it paid off
Ready to go into the oven

The Meat Sauce
One of the tricks for this very rich sauce was the addition of 250 gms of mushrooms
Also another,  was I whizzed up all of the vege in the  food processor
This is a great idea to disguise vege for the fussy kids in the family
And a secret extra... a dollop of ketchup

Added to the meat sauce, I also went to a little bit of extra trouble and instead of just dumping in a tin of tomatoes
I turned it into my special tomato sauce
One other difference was the addition of Buffalo Feta instead of Ricotta
I bought this from a local market
Actually it is from Bulgaria

What a stroke of genius
Salty sharp
Yum
You can use ordinary soft feta of course
By the way
There was enough meat sauce to set aside and freeze for another day

So you will need these ingredients
Meat sauce
500 gms Mince
2 tablespoons olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 medium onion peeled and rough chopped
1 carrot roughly chopped
2 sticks of celery roughly chopped
250 gms mushrooms roughly chopped
Red wine1/2 cup
1 Cup beef stock, I used a stock cube
2 tablespoons of your favourite ketchup

Tomato sauce
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 can tomatoes
Sea salt and black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Bechamel sauce
75 gms butter unsealed
1/4 cup flour
750 mls whole milk, infused with a bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly grated black pepper
1/2 cup grated cheese

150 gms Buffalo Feta

Packet lasagna sheets

Method
Meat sauce
In a pan on medium heat add olive oil
Meanwhile throw all of the vege into the food processor and whizz till they are finely chopped
Add to olive oil season with S&P
and sauté till soft

Meanwhile in another pan over high heat
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and brown the mince
Season with S&P
Add to the vege
De-glaze the meat pan with red wine
Add to vege
Along with beef stock

Tomato sauce
Sauté finely chopped garlic in olive oil
When soft add the tomatoes
Season with S&P and sugar
Simmer for about 5 minutes to develop the flavour
Add red wine vinegar

Add to the Meat  Sauce and simmer everything for at least 30 minutes
The sauce will be very rich and dark
Add the ketchup and you will be amazed at the little lift it gives the sauce

Put aside

Make the Bechamel Sauce
Warm the milk with a Bay leaf and some freshly ground black pepper

Melt butter in a pot
Add flour
Sir and cook out the flour for about 2-3 minutes
Season with sea salt
Add all of the warm milk and stir till sauce is thickened
If there are any lumps don't panic just whisk and they will disappear

Don't forget to remove the Bayleaf
Take off the heat and add grated cheese

Assembly
In a gratin dish
Spread 2 tablespoon of the cheese sauce
Place lasagne sheets
Add meat sauce
Sprinkle over 1/3 of the feta
Lasagne sheets
1/2 of the Béchamel
Lasagne sheets
Meat sauce
Then 1/3 of feta
Lasagne sheets

To the renaming Bechamel add a beaten egg and the remainder of the feta
Pour over the top

I made this the day before and popped into the fridge, covered with foil
Take out of the fridge about an hour before you need to cook it
Pre heat oven to 180C
Bake for about 30 minutes
Take off foil and cook for another 30 minutes
Till golden and bubbling

Let sit for about 15 minutes before serving
This makes it easier to cut

Guaranteed to please
Now I used the remaining Meat Sauce
For a Pasta dish for dinner last night

Just topped with grated Parmesan Cheese
Delicious

Cooking for Kids - Chicken Lasagne with a Twist - Sausage Casserole

Our Grand daughter Sophia is about to turn 14 , where has that time gone, here she is with her friend Annabel, just little kids, only 5 years ago

now they are beautiful young ladies…anyway I digress, I am contributing my Chicken and Corn Lasagne for dinner on Sunday, to celebrate her birthday.
We are about to swan off for the weekend, so I needed to get it made and into the freezer .
It is not strictly speaking Italian.
The Chicken part is actually a Chicken and White Bean Chili that I have borrowed from Giada de Laurentis, Food Network.com
The kids like it and it makes an excellent filling for the lasagne.
I bought free range breast and thighs and minced them in the food processor.
Nothing but the best for our kids!
I cut out the chili powder, there are some young mouths not quite ready for heat, but I did add a little red chili flakes. You need a little bite.
The addition of celery salt, I really like, I feel it helps to give an authentic flavour to the chili.
I also disregarded the Swiss chard (Silverbeet) for the kids...but have left it in the recipe, I think I would like it, if making for a wider audience. it would add great colour

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 pounds/1 kg ground chicken
1 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
2 tablespoons ground cumin
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
1 tablespoon celery salt
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons chili powder
3 tablespoons flour
2 (15-ounce cans) cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bunch (about 1 pound) Swiss chard,(Silverbeet) stems removed, leaves chopped into 1-inch pieces
11/2 cups frozen corn, thawed
4 cups low-sodium chicken stock
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper for seasoning

Directions
In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven,
heat the oil over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Add the ground chicken, 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, fennel seeds, oregano, celery salt and chili powder.
Cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.
Stir the flour into the chicken mixture.
Add the beans, Swiss chard, (if you are using it) corn, and chicken stock.
Bring the mixture to a simmer, scraping up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon.
Simmer for 55-60 minutes until the liquid has reduced by about half and the chili has thickened.
Add the red pepper flakes and chopped parsley, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

Also make a béchamel sauce
2 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoon white flour
2 cups milk infused with peppercorns, a peeled shallot and 2 bay leaves
Just pop the milk into the microwave about 2 minutes
Heats and infuse all at once.
20 gms grated Parmesan
20 gms grated Feta
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Grated Mozzarella for the topping
Melt the butter
Add the flour
Cook for about 3 minutes to cook the flour out
Add the strained hot milk
Stir well and bring to the boil to thicken
Simmer about 3-4 minutes stirring occasionally so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

Cool a little
Add cheeses
Stir well
Taste and adjust seasoning

To assemble
Lightly cover the bottom of gratin dish with béchamel
Place lasagne sheets on top
Layer of chicken

Lasagne
More béchamel
Lasagne
More chicken
Lasagne and then cover with the remainder of the béchamel

Pre heat oven to 180
Into the oven for 20 mins

Cool
add grated Mozzarella then a sprinkling of breadcrumbs for a little crunch at the end

I then covered it and into the freezer for Sunday.

Now onto the Sausage Dish for the Thursday Night Feats With Grandma
Veal Bratwurst Casserole

I love Veal Bratwurst and its not easy to find in the local Supermarket, but Faro Fresh, over on the North Shore has a wonderful selection of Deli meats. IN fact all of their meat is excellent. More about that later. I bought a few packets while I was there. Some for the Freezer
Great dinner, for the kids and to get the vege into them, how about a nice casserole.
Just a base of carrots, onions, celery and garlic.
I added some White Balsamic vinegar for acidity and also it has a lovely sweetness to it
And separately, I fried some onions. Sausages and onions. Oh Yes
This is so tasty and so, so simple, soft meaty sausages, topped with a fluffy Cheesy Potato Topping.
A kids delight.

5 Veal Bratwurst Sausages
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small red onion fine chop
1 small carrot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 stick of celery finely chopped
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
A little water
2 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar

For the fried onions
1 large onion peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon flour
2 cups chicken stock
I browned the sausages in a pan and then transferred them to a casserole dish

Add the chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan
Season and sauté till they get a little colour and start to tenderize.
Add a little water and let that absorb
Add white balsamic vinegar

Meanwhile in another pan
Add olive oil and the sliced onion
Cook slowly to caramelize
Add flour stir well and let cook for a few minutes

Add chicken stock
Bring to the boil stirring while you do
Simmer about 5 minutes
Add the other vege

Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary
and then pour the finished sauce over the sausages

Potato Topping
4 large potatoes peeled and chunked
3 tablespoon milk
Big knob of butter
70 gms cream cheese
1 shallot peeled and finely chopped
1 egg
Sea salt and ground white pepper

Meanwhile cook the potatoes in boiling salted water until tender
Strain and make sure they are quite dry

Heat the milk and butter in the microwave or a small pot
Now I am with Delia Smith, when it comes to mashing.
You can either put the hot potatoes through a ricer, or just get out your hand beater
and whip them up with that.

Start off slowly, you don't want to end up with it all over you
Add the hot milk and butter

Beat them up
When they are smooth
Add the shallots and cream cheese
You can start beating with a fork now
Add egg
Season with salt and white pepper
Continue to beat till smooth
Pile on top of sausages

I have popped this into the fridge and will finish it off tomorrow night
From room temperature,
180C for 30 mins
Should be a winner

Pasticcio - Greek Lasagne

Pastitsio A Greek Lasagne

I am really enjoying the Rerun of Rick Steins Mediterranean Escapes on Food TV and I have already blogged a delicious pasta, a couple of weeks ago
Now it is The Turn of the Greek. This pasta dish is so reminiscent of Lasagne, but the difference is the spices used in the meat sauce.
It’s lovely, bubbly, cheesy comfort food. Perfect for a cold winters day.
What I like about this meat sauce is the addition of the spices

I made it for ‘Thursday at Grandmas’ and all of the kids including the Grandfather loved it.
Rick used a Greek Cheese called Kefalotyri which is a hard sheep or goats cheese
I haven’t seen it here so I used a mixture of Feta and Parmesan, I guess you could use Percorino
This will feed 4 people

There are 3 stages
Meat sauce
Béchamel sauce and
The Pasta

In fact if you can make double the recipe of the Meat Sauce and stick it in the freezer for future use.

500 gms minced beef
1 tablespoon olive oil
Sea salt and pepper
1 onion finely chopped
2 clove garlic peeled and minced
1 stick celery finely sliced

Glass red wine
1 can tomatoes
2 tablespoon tomato puree

1 tsp ground cinnamon
_ tsp ground Cloves
1 tablespoon dried Oregano


Heat the olive oil in a pan and brown the meat
Season with S & P
When brown remove from pan and
Add onions and garlic sauté till soft
Add celery sauté another minute or two
Add meat back into pan
Deglaze with wine
Reduce a little
Add tomatoes, Tomato puree, cinnamon, cloves and oregano
Rinse the tomato tin half full and add the water to the mix

Simmer for about 30 minutes and set aside.


Béchamel Sauce
3 tablespoon butter
3 tablespoon plain flour
3 cups milk
1 small onion peeled and studded with whole cloves
1 bay leaf
Few peppercorns
Freshly grated nutmeg


The Pasta
300 gms Penne (or similar)
1 cup grated Cheese
2 eggs beaten

To make the Béchamel
Infuse the milk with onion studded with cloves, peppercorns and bay leaf
You need to make a roux
Melt butter in a heavy bottomed pan
Add flour mix well and cook for a few minutes to get rid of any raw flour taste.
Strain the milk
Add to roux and with a whisk beat well
Heat stirring all the time till it comes to the boil
Simmer for about 4-5 minutes

Season to taste with Sea salt, Freshly ground black pepper and a good grate of nutmeg

Meanwhile cook pasta to manufacturers instructions
Drain
Mix in 1/2 cup cheese and 1/3 of the béchamel
Mix well then add the 2 beaten egg mix.

Now time to assemble
Grease your gratin dish with olive oil
Layer half of the pasta mix, covering the bottom well
Then the meat sauce
Top with remainder of Pasta
Press down till flat

Cover with reserved Béchamel
Grated cheese on top

Bake 180C for about 30 minutes till t is golden and bubbly

Leave for at least 10 minutes before serving
This makes it easier to serve.

Lidia Basianich says she likes to leave baked Pasta dishes for at least an hour.
But who can wait that long.
This is a winner.


.

Marcella Hazan The Divine Signora M

I am a new convert to Marcella’s writing and I am so excited.
After reading "Angela Hartnett' s Cucina", I went onto the net and immediately ordered all the Marcella books in my local library... and after reading these have ordered “Marcella’s Italian Kitchen” from Dymocks.
It is fantastic. Her writing is so inspirational. Like Elizabeth David she writes a little paragraph or two about the recipe…whether it is an old family favourite, from a friend, a restaurant...even her husband, plus of course so many recipes which will have originated from her kitchen.
Always a little history of the dish.
My mouth waters.
So after reading the pasta section I just had to make the Vegetable Lasagne.
It contains carrots, courgettes and broccoli in a béchamel sauce.

A heart attack waiting to happen, but at least you could say you died happy.
Replaced broccoli with cauliflower. Broccoli is so expensive at the moment and I object to paying nearly $4 for a head!!!
This is a post worthy of Ruth from Once upon a feast Presto Pasta night
There will be a round up on Friday. Have a look at Ruth's Site

Here

Got out the pasta machine and the 00 flour and some Jumbo free range eggs.
I had made Angela Hartnett’s recipe a couple of weeks ago and she puts oil and salt in hers.
Not so Signora Hazan.
So I went ahead. Took a bit of kneading but soon I had a little package of silky pasta wrapped in plastic wrap in the fridge. Look at the end of the post for the pasta recipe.

Miss Cleo, the littlest grandchild, was here for the day
so I had to make the lasagne while she was asleep…as she is fairly busy when up, and this recipe even though delicious, is quite work intensive,

I was also cursing the size of my kitchen as I needed lots of bench space for this dish. Don’t let the thought of the work put you off though… it really is great.

The vegetables are cooked gently in garlic flavoured butter
Nice cheesy sauce added to them and then layered up as per normal lasagne.
Lovely aromas filled my kitchen

The Filling
400 gms carrots, peeled, washed and sliced into 1/4 inch discs
6 tablespoons butter plus additional butter for greasing the pan (Actually I used olive oil)
6 garlic cloves peeled and cut in half
400 gms courgettes washed and cut the same size as the carrots
1 head broccoli or 1/2 head cauliflower.

Pasta dough...either make your own recipe below or buy fresh lasagne pasta.

To prepare the vegetables
In a good size skillet add 1 1/2 tablespoon butter
2 of the garlic cloves and turn the heat onto medium
When garlic is light brown remove
Add carrots and 3 tablespoons water
Cook gently till water absorbed turning occasionally
till carrots are tender but not mushy.
Season with sea salt and gfresly ground black pepperand place in a mixing bowl.

Wipe the skillet and repeat this method with the courgettes
Season and into another bowl

Meanwhile blanch the broccoli/cauliflower
Drain and cool
Slice into thin slices like the other vege
Follow the method for the carrots and courgettes
Cook in garlic butter and 3 tablespoons water over medium heat turning occasionally.
Remove from pan and place in a third bowl.
Make the Béchamel Sauce

5 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 tablespoon flour
3 cups milk heated with a bay leaf
Sea salt & freshly ground black freshly ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups grated Parmesan
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg


Melt the butter
Add the flour
Cook about 4 minutes till flour cooked out.
Add warm milk and stir till thickened
Add 1 cup parmesan
Beat well
Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste,
Remove bay leaf
Reserve.

Grease your gratin dish
Smear over a couple of spoonfuls of sauce to bottom of dish
Keep aside 3/4 cup béchamel for the topping
Then divide the rest of the béchamel into the 3 bowls of vege.
So now assemble the meal.

Lay sheets of pasta over the bottom of the dish
Layer over the carrot mix
Another layer pasta
Courgette mix
Pasta
Broccoli/cauliflower
Final layer pasta
Spread over remainder of sauce
Cover with 3/4 cup Grated parmesan
Dot with (Yes) more butter

Into pre-heated 200C oven for15-20 minutes until a light golden crust forms on top.
Allow at least 10 minutes before serving.
Like most lasagne this one can be assembled the day before it is to be baked.

To make the Pasta.
I guess most people have made pasta and if you haven’t it really is very simple.
Don’t be frightened.
First the old trusty pasta machine is necessary. I have borrowed my daughters but I believe they are not too expensive.
You can roll by hand but I think it would be fairly hard.
So as all the best Italians cooks say.

You must make the pasta on the bench.

2 cups 00 flour
3 large eggs

Extra bench flour for kneading and rolling

Make a big mound of the flour and with your fingers make a well in the middle
I added the eggs one by one to stop them from sliding out onto the floor
With a fork gently beat the egg like a omelet in the well and start to work the flour into the centre.
As the egg is absorbed add the next one and continue to work till you get a ball.
Start kneading.
It’s an easy dough to knead, you will have to use extra bench flour till you get the right consistency.

If you are not sure that you have put in enough flour,

push a finger into the dough as far as its centre. It should come out clean and dry.

If it is moist or there are bit of dough stuck to your fingers work in additional

flour till it feels just right.
Pop into the fridge for at least an hour.

When you are ready
Flour your bench

Take a quarter of your pasta dough
Roll out into a rectangle

Then through the machine on the widest gap
Fold in half and repeat another 3 times.
Close the notch to the next level
Through the machine again
I floured the bench where the dough came out so it didn’t stick to the bench.
Continue dropping the notch till it is nice and thin.

Lay out on floured bench and cut into rectangles

Brush of the excess flour and prepare to pre-cook
Have a pot of boiling salted water
Drop in about 3-4 at a time when they float to the top
Take them out
Drain in a colander and wash under cold tap.

Have a tea towel ready on the bench
Lay the squares on the towel
Pat dry and "voila" they are ready to go.
Layer away.

Here’s another simple appetizer from the book…I just had to make this.
So easy and so tasty.
Tuna Spread with Capers

2 x 300gms tins of best tuna in olive oil
8 tablespoon good unsalted butter softened to room temperature
3 tablespoon capers

Drain the tuna of all the olive oil it was packed in
Into the food processor with butter and capers
Blitz to a creamy consistency
Adjust seasoning to taste.

Great for canapés

Spread on little croutons topped with a sliver of red freshly ground black pepper.
Pretty and good accompaniment with wine.

I have had it on my toast for breakfast with tomato slices on top.

And it was particularly great on Vogels toast, to accompany a bowl of Brussel sprouts and Leek soup.
Excellent lunch.