Recipe; Pasta-Free Lasagna

(*Please note* I do not like food that has too much flavour and thus my recipes are likely to be more bland/basic to some recipes you see but trust me when I say they still taste amazing.)

Pasta-Free Lasagna

One of my all time favorite foods is Bolognaise, and in line with that, Lasagna. But as I’m trying to cut back on the carbs I’m eating, I have been trying to come up with some pasta-free dishes. Thus my friend Caroline told me about using courgette instead of pasta (she has has a cool pasta maker too!) and I went one step further and wondered what it would taste like with Aubergine. So obviously, I decided to try it. I have since tried it in both variations and I think they both taste amazing. I’ve also made it with lamb mince and beef mince and I’m fairly certain it would taste amazing with quorn mince too!

To make this recipe gluten-free, I also made one with just cheese sprinkled on the top with no white-sauce which wasn’t quite right but I do know you can make white sauce with gluten-free flour but I would need to research that more before putting it in a recipe but if you know how to make a gluten-free white sauce, you definitely should for this!

Anyway… here’s an incredibly tasty dish that is good for all the family!

Ingredients

(Cooking for one)
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
1 Courgette/Aubergine
50 – 150g Mince (beef or lamb)
1/2 Onion
3 Mushrooms
1/2 tin of sliced carrots
1/2 tin of sweetcorn
200g tinned chopped tomatoes
Tomato Puree
1 clove of Garlic
Dried Basil
25g Plain Flour
25g Butter
250ml (1/2 pint) Milk
50g grated cheddar

What You’ll Need

1 Chopping Board
1 Knife
1 Tin Opener
1 Frying Pan
2 Saucepans
1 Fish slice
1 Oven Dish
1 Spoon
1 Grater
1 Measuring Jug
1 Set of Scales

Method

Turn the oven on to about 180C/350F/Gas 4
Add a little vegetable oil to the frying pan and allow it some time to heat.
Dice the onion.
Peel and slice the mushrooms.
Chop the garlic finely.
Slice the aubergine/courgette into slices.
Add the mince to the heated pan. The amount you add will depend on how many vegetables you plan to add.
Cook the mince until it is brown all over.
Add the onions, cook for a few minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the mushrooms, cook for another few minutes until they all start to turn brown.

Remove from frying pan and pour into the largest saucepan.
Add the carrots, sweetcorn, chopped tomatoes and garlic, give it all a stir.
Add the tomato puree and a little bit of hot water, stir it all in together.
At this point you can also add a little Worcestershire Sauce, stirring it all in.
Leave the pan to simmer.
Melt the butter in a new saucepan.
Take off the heat and pour in the flour, mix until you make a nice paste.
Add in a small amount of milk, just enough to cover the bottom of the saucepan and stir in well.
Return saucepan to a low heat, keep adding the milk little by little, continuously stirring throughout. Do not worry too much if you have lumps, but using a fork or whisk can help this.
Stir continuously until the mixture comes to the boil and has thickened.
The white sauce is the hardest part of this dish but it is easily corrected. The measurments should work but if the sauce doesn’t thicken, add a little more flour.
Add a nice helping of grated cheese and stir in, this will help make the white sauce even thicker.

Once satisfied, leave to once side and put your frying pan back onto the heat with a little olive oil.
Add your aubergine or courgette and lightly fry on both sides.
Get your oven dish and put a layer of mince, then a layer of white sauce, a layer of courgette/aubergine, mince and white sauce. Repeat until you run out of ingredients. You want to finish with a white sauce layer.

Sprinkle with cheese.
Place in the oven and cook for twenty-thirty minutes until the cheese is golden brown in colour.

Voila!
That is how I make my pasta-free, low carb lasagne! It tastes amazing – even if I do say so myself – and is one of those perfect dishes that you can make in bulk and then reheat later!

Let me know if you make this and what you thought!