Thursday 31 October 2013

Gluten Free and low lactose courgette lasagne - could be adapted to be dairy free

Many thanks to Cath on the Facebook Group for sharing this recipe!


Ingredients: (to make 6 portions)
  • 1kg of lean minced beef
  • 3 medium-large onions
  • 2 500g cartons of Passata (I use Cirio)
  • 2 safe beef stock cubes (I recommend Telma kosher stock cubes if you can get them. Such a good taste. Otherwise whatever you can get hold of that works…)
  • Brown sauce (I use Stokes because it’s GF)
  • 3 large courgettes
  • Olive oil
  • Whatever cheese is best tolerated – lots of it, grated.
  • TIP Redwood cheezly grates well if frozen first and there is a dairy and soya free version.
  • Big pan
  • Some oven dishes
Method: 
  • In a giant pan, with plenty of olive oil, soften the onions very finely chopped. Do this until they are completely cooked – say 15 mins on a high heat at first, then gentler, covered.
  • Add all the mince, breaking it up very small in the pan and cook through. (Ie stir, cover for a few mins, stir again, and repeat until all brown)
  • Crumble the stock cubes into the onions and mince.
  • Add several squirts of the brown sauce if you’ve got one you can use.
  • Add the Passata, turn the heat up, and cover to bring up to a steady bubble.
  • Uncover and turn right down for a nice long simmer – 15 mins, or so…
  • Slice courgettes into slices about 1-2mm thick – nice and fine. Lay the slices on the bottom of all the oven dishes you’re using, one slice thick, with just a slight overlap – you’re not aiming for massive thick layers of courgette – it won’t soften properly if you do that.
  • Once the bolognese is cooked, season well with black pepper or smoked cayenne and then alternate layers of sliced courgette with sauce in the dishes.
  • Cover with grated cheese.
  • Cover with a very tight layer of foil.

TIP 1 - I always dip the top layer of courgette in the sauce, so that there’s sauce on top of that top layer – otherwise it’s not so nicely cooked.

TIP 2 - This dish is a meat heavy but a pulse and vegetable mixture could make it entirely vegetarian.

TIP 3 - Please note if you have small people who are a bit concerned about the texture of courgette, it might be worth grating it and making the layers out of that, instead. Changes the bite of it a bit. You then only need to cook for 30-40mins uncovered.

To cook (must defrost first – this won’t do from frozen), put in the oven at 200C with the foil on for 25 mins, then take foil off and do 25mins more.

11 comments:

  1. I've tried this recipe (am a friend of the author!) and it's fab! Really really delicious, and you don't miss the pasta element in the slightest. My partner absolutely loved it, and he usually is sniffy about carb-free food!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So glad you liked it - all credit to a friend of mine on our Facebook group though :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. That sounds really delicious and what a change from the pasta, I will have to try this out on my family! :)

    Caroline
    www.my-family-ties.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. This sounds a great way of making courgette exciting! I love lasagne so may try this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I love a good lasagne - it is a real comfort food

    ReplyDelete
  6. I wish my oven was working, I would make it right now :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. perfect for my mother in law ho needs gluten free

    ReplyDelete
  8. My SIL does one pretty similar to this, kind of a cross between a lasagne and a moussaka

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds and looks so nice love warming foods such as this at this time of year.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh this sounds delicious - I need to try and get cooking more things (so stuck in a rut doing the same thing over and over) x

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love lasagne and my aunt always moans she can't have it because of the gluten - will show her this recipe

    ReplyDelete

Many thanks for taking the time to comment!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...