Homemade with Helen! Lasagne
As the dark nights begin to get cold this lasagna recipe will keep you nice and warm, it is a perfect way to get more vegetables in your diet, and a meat free alternative can also be made with this recipe. It is important to get a balanced diet in these winter months to help protect ourselves from things like the common cold.
Lasagnas are also great to make in bulk as they can be frozen, defrosted and heated up easily to save you cooking later on. If you want to learn more about balanced diets this website has all the information you need https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/
All the ingredients can be found at the supermarket or grocery. If you or your family are in need of emergency food support contact Wirral Foodbank Plus on 0151 638 7090 Monday to Thursday 10am - 1:30 pm, or check out NEO, a local social supermarket that can help provide food when you need it most! For more information check out https://www.neocommunity.org.uk/what-we-do or contact them on 0151 647 5981
Possible allergies in this recipe:
-dairy
-tomatoes
Ingredients needed:
Your favourite vegetables (could include: leeks, peppers, peas, onion, carrots mushrooms, tomatoes and courgette)
500g mince
A tomato based sauce
A white Bechamel sauce
Pasta sheets
Cheese
Garlic
Herbs (optional)
Olive oil for cooking
Vegetarian option: either vegetarian mince or a lentil in a (tomato) sauce
Instructions:
Step 1: Place 500g of mince (amount depends on how many servings you want) with a bit of oil in a large pan and cook on a low heat until the meat has turned completely brown and there is no pink left (over 75 degrees celsius). If you are using a vegetarian option, cook according to the instructions on the packet.
Step 2:
Place the vegetables in a separate pan with some oil in and heat slowly until they are cooked through thoroughly. Be aware some vegetables take different amounts of time to cook and cook in different ways, for example onions and leeks can be cooked in a pan with some oil in a pan whereas carrots can be cooked in water.
Step 3:
Once both the meat (or vegetarian option) and vegetables are fully cooked put them all in one pan and mix so they are well combined, add your tomato sauce (depending on the amount you have it could take more than one jar- just make sure it is evenly coated in the sauce). Add some herbs and crushed garlic here if you would like.
Step 4:
Using a baking dish add a layer of the meat and vegetables.
Step 5:
On top of this add a layer of pasta sheets, it doesn't have to cover it all completely but should cover the majority of the mixture.
Step 6:
Repeat this step until you have used all of the meat and vegetable mix and place a final layer of pasta sheets on top. Then on top of this add your white sauce so it evenly covers the top of the dish, the amount of sauce needed will depend on the size of your dish. After this you can put some grated cheese on top but this is optional.
Step 7:
Place in a preheated oven at 180 (fan) for around 40-45 minutes.
Step 8:
Serve with some salad, chips or even more vegetables! The dish can be cut up and placed in tubs and stored in the freezer for up to 3 months for the best quality.
