Store cupboard Lasagne



I haven't been updating my blog, am working on a long-overdue project and juggling motherhood with a very fussy 1-year-old.  My eldest is busy getting ready for the school concert which means I am running back and forth between school and home.

You are probably wondering, what on earth I put in this lasagne. Well since we are all pressed for time and sometimes don't have time to prepare elaborate meals like lasagne , I came up with this recipe.
It was quite an accident really.  I decided to make lasagne using dried pasta instead of making it fresh from scratch. I didn't have any ground meat so threw in a can of corned beef. I don't often use corned beef but after coming back to the Maldives it's been a standby in my store cupboard. I found out that if you scrape the thick oily coat on the outside of that meat, it tastes less salty and once you add some herbs and spices, the strong taste goes off. 

This is a good make-ahead recipe, you can make it a few hours ahead, assemble it and leave it in the fridge, and pop it in the oven an hour before serving. I found out that when you leave it to soak up for a while the noodles take less time to cook and the top doesn't end up getting undercooked.

Recipe: Storecupboard Lasagne

For 4-6  servings

Meat sauce :
olive oil
1 can corned beef
1 small onion
1/2 a large carrot
3 cloves of garlic
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp chilli flakes (optional) or more if you want it more spicy
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp dried mixed herbs ( use fresh if you have any in the fridge)
1 cup tomato pasta sauce ( I used strombolli's  tomato  pasta sauce)
1 1/2  cup water

White sauce
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 handful grated cheddar cheese ( use a mild one if possible)
2 cups milk

About 9 dried Lasagne sheets
some extra cheddar, and parmesan cheese grated.

Make the meat sauce :

1. Place onion, carrot and garlic ( if you have celery lying around pop that in as well) into a food processor and chop it up. Or you can finely chop them all by hand if you don't have a food processor.

2. Heat some olive oil in a large deep frying pan or saucepan, add the chopped-up vegetables and saute till they are soft.

3. Open the can of corned beef clean the salty outer layer on it crumble into a bowl and pop this into the softened vegetables.

4. Stir the contents in the pan and stir in ground pepper, mixed herbs ground fennel, and pasta sauce and water. Bring to a boil, then simmer covered till the sauce is reduced. If you have any fresh parsley or basil leaves, chop them up and add them once the sauce is reduced.  The sauce should be thick but not completely dry. Taste and add a little salt if needed, as the corned beef is quite salty. Set aside.

To make the white sauce:

5. Take a small saucepan and melt the butter over low heat,  once the butter melts, switch off the heat and stir in flour.

6. Whisk the flour in and place over gentle heat, while whisking continuously stir in milk. Cook over medium heat, stirring continuously till the sauce thickens. Stir in a big handful of cheddar cheese stir and cook 1 minute and then switch off.

7. To assemble the lasagne,   Take a square oven dish. Spoon a thin layer of meat sauce, enough to cover the bottom. Layer 3 sheets of lasagne, breaking them up to fit in, if necessary. 

Then a layer of meat sauce and a ladle of cheese sauce. If you have mozzarella cheese add a few slices of it on top of the cheese sauce. 

Repeat with the second layer of lasagne sheets, meat sauce, white sauce, and the final layer of lasagne sheet. On the final lasagne, layer some white sauce and sprinkle some extra cheddar and parmesan cheese ( if you have) Sprinkle some dried herbs and ground black pepper as well. Cover with foil and pop in the fridge for an hour or two.

8. Preheat oven to Gas mark 4,  pop the prepared lasagne dish with the foil on into the oven and bake for 30 - 45 minutes. Remove foil, check if the top layer noodles are cooked through, then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes, Remove from the oven, cool for 10 minutes then serve with a nice green salad.



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