I find normal lasagne a bit stodgy and heavy but my husband loves it so I decided to invent a Lasagne that works for both of us, as it is a little bit different and nice and light, I have called it ‘Summer Lasagne’. It tastes perfect with a fresh Green Salad!!
For the Meat Sauce
· 800g Good Quality Beef Mince
· 2 tins of chopped Tomatoes (the flavoured ones from Waitrose are extra good)
· 1 Courgette (finely diced)
· 2 Red Peppers (finely diced)
· 2 Spanish Onions (finely diced)
· 1 teaspoon of Chilli Flakes or Fresh Chilli (diced)
· 1 tablespoon of Muscovado Sugar
· Bunch of Basil
· 3 Cloves of Garlic (crushed or finely diced)
· Salt & Pepper to taste
· ½ a bag of Spinach
· A sprinkle of dried Mediterranean Herbs
· 400ml Cheap Red Wine
- As there are so many ingredients brown the meat first in little olive oil, then set aside along with juices
- Now cook the garlic, onions, courgettes & peppers in the juices with about 50g of butter till they start to release a strong aroma and the onions turn translucent
- Add the meat to the vegetable and combine
- Then add the tinned tomatoes and then once the mixture is bubbling reduce the heat and simmer
- While simmering add herbs, chilli and sugar
- As the mixture reduces add the red wine (about a cup at a time, and then continue to add as required)
- Cook for at least an hour, the longer is cooks the better it tastes
For the Lasagne layers
· 1 packet of Lasagne Sheets (fresh is best but dried is fine too)
· 3 Courgettes (cut length ways)
· 3 Red Peppers (cooked in hot oven till skin browns and once sweated come off easily) or you could use a jar or large tub of Marinated Red Peppers instead for convenience
· 2 Eggplants (Aubergines) cut into rounds
· 1½ tubs of Ricotta
· 200g approx of grated Mozzarella Cheese
- Heat oven to 180 degrees
- Get out a reasonably sized deep baking dish, the one I use is about 28x28cm
- Grill courgettes and eggplants in the oven with a little olive oil till turning golden
- Spread the lasagne sheets with Ricotta (about ½ centimetre deep)
- Start to layer up the lasagne; starting with pasta, followed by meat, a layer of either type of vegetable and then repeat till the dish is full. Make your final layer meat and then cover with the grated Mozzarella Cheese
- Cover lasagne with foil and bake in the oven for about 25mins, then remove and bake for a further 10mins until the cheese turns bubbly and golden.
- Serve immediately ideally, but it also comes up brilliantly the next day with a reheat in the oven.
