Lasagne

Lasagne

 

 (pictured before cooking)

 

 

This is a pretty classic lasagne recipe, and it's the recipe I have used for years and it's always a very big hit for whoever i cook it for! My husband requests it for his birthday every year! This is NOT a quick weeknight meal- but as it's christmas I have been doing a lot of my more 'special' dishes to bring to parties. It's not quick- it is however quite easy. I find a lot of people are afraid of lasagne, this recipe will help to de-mystify it (you don't even use fresh lasagne sheets!). The picture above is before cooking, cause I made it up today and will cook it tommorrow before the party so it's cooked fresh (although it's still very good reheated for leftovers the next day!). Also, a note about the healthy-ness- it's not. And I have tried cooking this one with skim milk, nuttelex instead of butter etc and it just doesn't work as well so this is one where you just have to go with it! (it is christmas after all- and this one takes too long not to be a 'sometimes' food anyway!).

 

Time Taken: Preparation, cooking of the sauces and assembly of the pasta takes about 1 hour. Cooking time in the oven is 30- 40 mins.

 

2 year old friendly?: Yes definately! He LOVES lasagne (like garfield!)

 

INGREDIENTS

Meat sauce

3 tbs olive oil

1 large onion, thinly diced

500g minced beef or pork- OR a mixture of pork and veal (NOTE- it's traditional to use pork and veal, but I usually use beef cause I like the flavour. For this one in particular I used JUST pork as some of the people I am cooking for don't eat beef).

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 410g cans of tomato puree

1/2 cup tomato paste

1/2 cup water

A handful each of fresh basil and parsely, chopped finely (can use oregano instead of parsely)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

White (bechamel) sauce

2 cups milk (full cream)

2 tbs butter

2 tbs plain flour

For the lasagne construction

1 cup grated parmesen cheese (note- I cheat and use the packet one!)

1 packet of large instant lasange sheets (dry)

1-2 packets of mozerlla cheese, shredded (I buy 2 packets and usually need to use a little bit of the second one- but you could make 1 packet stretch if you want to)

 

METHOD

Meat sauce

Head the oil and saute the onions and garlic in a medium-large pot.

Add meat and cook until brown, stirring to break up meat, on medium heat. Add tomato puree, tomato paste, water, fresh herbs and salt and pepper.

Bring to boil on high. Cover and simmer for about 30 mins, stirring occasionally.

White sauce

While the meat sauce is cooking, melt butter on low heat in a medium saucepan. Remove form heat.

Add flour and stir well till creamy. Put back on heat, turning up to medium, and add milk a bit at a time, stirring until it boils and thickens. Sauce is done when it coats the spoon (note, it will thicken more once it cools).

To construct lasagne

Add some meat sauce to a large baking dish to coat the bottom in a thin layer. Cover with a layer of the pasta sheets (you can break them to get the right coverage). Add another layer of sauce over the pasta sheet and then spoon on some bechamel sauce and sprinke over an even covering of mozerella cheese and parmesen cheese.

Repeat layers (pasta sheets, meat sauce, white sauce and cheese) twice, but on top layer leave off the bechamel sauce and use slightly more cheese for a nice golden cheesy finish (you end up with 3 layers of pasta sheets).

Cook lasagne in a 180 degree oven for 30- 40 mins.

Can be frozen before or after cooking (as long as the meat was not frozen before cooking).

 

Pasta with Prawns in a Tomato and Basil Sauce

Pasta with Prawns in a Tomato and Basil Sauce

 

This one is so simple and easy I didn't need a recipe! It's one of my favourite things to order in restaurants in the summer, and when trying to decide what to cook one night I thought I'd give it a go. Tip: you can buy fresh prawns, but I discovered frozen raw prawns recently and they're so good and convienient that I just always keep a packet in the freezer. They defrost really quickly if you put them in a plastic bag and put them in warm (not hot) water, so they're a great thing to have around. And they taste no different to the fresh ones.

Time taken: No more than 20 minutes. Super quick!

2 year old friendly?: The pasta bit yes, he didn't like the prawns. But that's okay, you can just leave them off the plate if your young ones aren't into them. More prawns for you!

Makes 4 BIG servings or 6 smaller ones.

INGREDIENTS
About 350-400g of raw peeled prawns
1 packet of spaghetti
2 cans of good quality tinned crushed tomatoes.
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
Olive oil
A handful of basil leaves, torn into shreds.
Some freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve

METHOD
Put a large saucepan of water on to boil and once boling, salt the water and add the spaghetti. Cook till al-dente.
Meanwhile, heat some olive oil in a medium saucepan. Add the garlic and onion and cook until soft.
Add the tins of tomatoes, some salt and pepper and just over half of the basil. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer, simmering for about 5-10 minutes, until sauce reduces and thickens slightly.
While the sauce is simmering, heat a very small amount of oil in a medium fry pan. Add the prawns and cook until JUST opaque (transfer them to a bowl if sauce still cooking).
Add the prawns to the finished sauce and then immediately add the sauce to the cooked and drained pasta. Add remaining basil and stir though well.
Served sprinkled with grated parmesan.

 

Mac and Cheese with Peas

Mac and Cheese with Peas

 

This is another recipe from my friend Tina, a very big supporter of my blog! Thanks Tina! I slightly altered Tina's recipe when I made it to make it lower fat, and i also added the peas. Because I lowered the fat content it made it a little on the bland side, so I have offered below both versions, the lower fat version (which is still nice- but perhaps ensure to season it lots and perhaps add some trim bacon for more flavour), and the totally yummy original version (when you just need flavour and to hell with it!).

Time taken?: About 30 mins all up. Pretty quick!

2 year old friendly?: I would imagine so- although mine refused to try it! I know that Tina's little 1 year old loves it- so it's at least 1 year old friendly!

INGREDIENTS
250g elbow macaroni
60g butter (low fat version-  60g Nuttelex)
1/3 cup plan flour
3 cups milk (low fat version- 2.5 cups skim milk. You add less if it's skim as skim is more watery and the sauce doesn't thicken otherwise)
2 cups coarsely grated pizza cheese (low fat version- lite tasty cheese or lite mozzarella)
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed (optional)
(Reminder- add some salt and pepper and maybe trim bacon if doing low fat version)

METHOD
1. Pre heat the grill setting on your oven on high.
2. Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente and drain. As pasta is cooking, melt butter in saucepan, add flour, cook and stir for about 2 mins or until mixture thickens and bubbles. Gradually stir in milk, cook and stir until sauce boils and thickens.
3. Stir pasta, half of the cheese and the peas (if adding) into the sauce. Pour mixture into shallow (2litre, 8 cup) baking dish. sprinkle remaining cheese on top and place under hot grill until cheese melts and is browned lightly.