Black Olive Lasagne without cheese
Lasagne usually has a layer of grated cheese on the top however the sauce is bound instead here with dried breadcrumbs, gratin style. You will not miss the cheese and will get a salty tang from the olives instead.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- Ceramic oven dishes to hold 4 portions (you can use 1 large or 4 small)
- Stick blender
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion finely sliced
- 3 garlic cloves peeled and finely sliced
- 300 g lean minced beef
- 500 g tomato passata
- 3 tbsp tomato puree
- 100 g black olives pitted and sliced
- 2 tbsp dairy free spread (or butter if dairy free is not a requirement)
- 2 tbsp cornflour
- 300 ml A2 Milk (or ordinary milk is lactose intolerance is not a factor)
- pinch ground nutmeg
- pinch salt
- 10 leaves fresh basil finely sliced
- 10 sheets dried lasagne (approximately)
- 50 g dried breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c / Gas mark 4.
- In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil on a medium heat and fry the red onion and garlic for around 5 minutes until softened.1 tbsp olive oil, 1 red onion, 3 garlic cloves
- Add the minced beef and breaking into small clumps fry until cooked through.300 g lean minced beef
- Set aside some slices of black olives if you wish to use these as decoration.
- Add the passata, tomato puree and sliced olives and stir through. Leave to simmer whilst you cook the white sauce but do not let too much liquid boil away as this is needed to soak into the lasagne sheets.500 g tomato passata, 3 tbsp tomato puree, 100 g black olives
- To make the white sauce (or "roux"), in a small non-stick saucepan melt the dairy free spread on a medium heat.2 tbsp dairy free spread
- When the dairy free spread is melted, reduce the heat and add the corn flour stirring thoroughly with a wooden spoon to remove lumps.2 tbsp cornflour
- When the corn flour and dairy free spread have formed a ball start to add half of the milk very slowly. Initially only stir in a tablespoon at a time then gradually you can add the rest of the first half more quickly.300 ml A2 Milk
- As the white roux will be less smooth than with butter, when the first half of the milk has been added, decant the mixture to a stick blender jug. Add the chopped basil leaves and nutmeg and whizz for a few moments until smooth.pinch ground nutmeg, 10 leaves fresh basil
- Return the now smooth white sauce to the non-stick saucepan and raise the heat slightly. Add the rest of the milk and stir well allowing it to thicken. Add salt to taste.pinch salt
- Assemble the lasagnes by arranging two alternate layers of meat sauce and lasagne sheets; meat, pasta, meat, pasta. Do this in your chosen baking dish or dishes. Then pour a layer of white sauce, pasta, more white sauce. As you go, press each pasta layer down gently on the filling beneath.10 sheets dried lasagne
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs and the few olive slices previously set aside, onto the top layer of white sauce. Bake in the middle of the oven for 30-35 minutes.50 g dried breadcrumbs
Notes
Serve immediately with green vegetables or salad. Alternatively after rapid cooling you can freeze to eat at a later date.
