Posie’s Place

UPDATE 22 AUGUST : As Meeta quite rightly pointed out Italy is the most wonderful destination for a holiday and the two dishes which have a special place in my heart from Italy are pizza and Lasagna.

With that in mind I have decided therefore that it is fitting to make this my submission for Meeta’s Monthly Mingle#4 since the theme is “Holiday Cuisine“.

Firstly I would like to thank Ivonne from Creampuffs In Venice for sharing her mum’s wicked lasagne recipe, unlike Ivonne I left the meat in but next time I think I would take it out (and maybe use homemade pasta, I used store bought fresh lasagne sheets as we were going out last night and I had no time to make it fresh).

My lasagna wasn’t very photogenic but it did taste wonderful!!

After reading through Ivonne’s recipe I realized that in order to make a delicious lasagna you didn’t need to faff around making a bechemel sauce (this is what has always put me off, plus Stewart really dislikes bechemel sauce so normally doesn’t eat lasagna).

Here is my try at a simple lasagna recipe. Enjoy!

SIMPLE LASAGNA

Serves 3-4

INGREDIENTS

• 500g Rump steak (I used rump steak instead of veal since Stewart doesn’t like veal), sliced
• 1 Medium onion, sliced
• 750ml Passata
• 1 Clove garlic, sliced
• 4 Sheets Fresh Organic Lasagna (23.5cmx17.5cm)
• 3 x150g Mozzarella (sliced) I know it’s a bit of a cheek but I used light mozzarella!
• 200g Parmesan, grated
• Extra Virgin Olive oil
• Salt & Pepper

PREPARATION

1. Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan and add the onions and garlic, cook gently until softened.
2. Add the meat and cook until sealed on all sides
3. Pour over the passata and allow to gently simmer and reduce for about 2 hours, if the sauce becomes to thick then add water.
4. Cook the lasagne sheets in plenty of salted boiling water according to the packet instructions (2-3 minutes).
5. Drain the pasta and refresh with cold water so that it is easy to handle, drain again and set aside.
6. Spoon some of the tomato sauce into the base of the baking dish (I used a ceramic dish 27×18.5cm and about 5cm deep).
7. Add the first layer of lasagna, trimming it if necessary. Spoon over 1/3 of the sauce and then sprinkle about 1/3 of the finely grated parmesan and 1/3 of the sliced mozzarella followed by another layer of pasta.
8. Repeat the process twice more until the lasagna is complete.
9. Bake in a preheated oven 180°C for about 1 hour or until it is completely heated through and the cheese on top is crisp and golden.
10. Serve piping hot!

I think the next time I would either use minced beef or I would remove the beef after the tomato sauce is cooked and set it aside as Ivonne suggested in her recipe. All that being said it was rather moreish!!

recipe, food, food & drink,monthly mingle #4