If I had to choose one of my favourite meals in life, one of them would without a doubt have to be lasagne, but not any lasagne however, my Moms.
When I was a kid, we didn’t really eat what I would consider foreign foods, but lived off a very British diet. One of the first foreign dishes my Mom ever served up to us was lasagne and although it was completely different to anything I had ever tried, I loved it from the moment I first tasted it.
My Mom had followed a recipe that she has now had for around 35 years and not only is it a classic, but I have never found a lasagne to live up to hers. Before I had food allergies in fact, I refused to even order a lasagne off a menu as I always found that they tasted horrible compared to the home cooked dish.
Traditionally, lasagne is made with beef mince of course, but here I have altered it to turkey mince, mainly because I try to cut down on red meat, but also because I have found it tastes just as delicious with white meat as it does with red. A little sweeter in taste compared to beef, it is delicious accompanied with sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes.
Serves 4
- 500g turkey mince
- 1 cooking onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- Mixed herbs (oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme)
- Half tube tomato puree
- 6 sheets lasagne (I use Sainsbury’s free from but DS Gluten Free also produce them and can be found in supermarkets)
- 2 white sauces or Free & Easy dairy free cheese sauce (can be found at major supermarkets or Holland & Barret)
- Cheese to grate (optional)
- Milk or soya
- Salt and pepper
1) Warm some olive oil in a pan and tip in the mince and brown.
2) Add the chopped onion and garlic and mix well until soft.
3) Put a heaped teaspoon of mixed herbs into the pan, 1 and a quarter teaspoons of cooking salt and 1 teaspoon sugar.
4) Sprinkle in some pepper for taste.
5) Squeeze in half a tube of tomato puree.
6) Add half a pint of cold water to the mix.
7) Once it is bubbling, turn down to a low heat and leave to simmer for around 45 minutes until thicker.
8) Grate cheese whilst it is cooking.
9) Add just under a pint of boiling water to the two white sauces and a drop of milk and whip well, or if using dairy free, add 4 heaped teaspoons of the cheese sauce to 300ml of cold water and bring to the boil on the hob, add a sprinkle of the grated cheese to thicken.
10) Add a quarter of the mince to the bottom of the baking dish.
11) Put 3 of the lasagne sheets on top, break up if needed to fill any gaps.
12) Add half of the white or cheese sauce mix.
13) Sprinkle a quarter of the grated cheese onto the layers.
14) Repeat this process twice and finish off with the last bit of mince and grated cheese on top.
15) Place in the oven for 40 minutes.
Tummy Happy 