Say hello to lovely Sophie who is going to try making some things for the blog. She is unable to eat gluten so all the recipes we do will be gluten-free. However, as I spend a considerable amount of my life cooking low-carb meals a lot of things I make are inherently gluten-free anyway so that makes everything quite stress free.
Making
lasagne is actually relatively easy. It has three elements – a meat
or vegetable sauce, a white (or béchamel) sauce and pasta. As you
are unable to eat gluten we will use gluten free pasta and cornflour
to thicken the white sauce, but anyone else following this blog can
use regular pasta and plain flour. I like to add chicken livers to
boost the flavour of the meat sauce but you can leave them out if you
prefer.
Serves 4 (ish - depending on appetite)
2
tbsp oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1
stick of celery, finely chopped
250g minced beef
250g
minced pork
50g chicken livers, trimmed and finely chopped
(optional)
100ml
milk
100ml
red wine
400ml
passata
1
star anise
2
tsp dried oregano
1
tsp chopped fresh rosemary
2
tsp fresh thyme leaves
3
tbs cornflour
600ml
milk
2
bay leaves
grated
nutmeg
50g
butter cut into small cubes
About
9 sheets gluten free lasagne (depending on the size of the sheets and
your dish - you'll need 3 layers of pasta)
100g
grated parmesan
Heat
the oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan and fry the onion over a
low to medium heat until softened. Add the carrot and continue to
cook for 5 minutes, then add the celery and cook for another 2
minutes. Turn up the heat, add the minced beef and pork and stir and
fry until the meat is no longer pink, then stir in the chopped livers
and cook for another 3 minutes.
Add
the milk and allow to bubble away until it has been absorbed by the
meat then pour in the wine, passata, star anise and the herbs. Season
with salt and pepper then bring to a simmer. Cover the pan partially
with a lid, turn the heat down, and leave to simmer very gently for 2
hours.
Pre-heat
the oven to 200C.
To
make the béchamel use 3 tbs of the milk and mix with the cornflour
to make a loose paste then bring the rest of the milk, the bay leaves
and a good grating of fresh nutmeg to the boil. Reduce the heat to
very low and whisk in the cornflour paste followed by the butter.
Season and simmer gently for about 5 minutes until thickened.
To
assemble the lasagne, take a deep, wide dish and coat the bottom with
a third of the meat sauce, topped with a quarter of the béchamel (I
tend to just blob it around using a spoon), and a layer of pasta. You
can break the pasta into pieces to make it fit but the odd gap here
or there won't make a big difference. Repeat two more layers, and
then top the last layer of pasta with the rest of the béchamel and
sprinkle over the parmesan. Cook for 40-45 minutes, until golden and
bubbling.
Allow
to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving – lasagne is nicer
served warm rather than screamingly hot and giving it time to rest
allows everything to firm up slightly. It is possibly even better the
next day. In a toasted sandwich.
