We’re going to start off by apologising. We know you usually come to Amodrn for healthy swaps of all your favourite recipes, but you’d also know that we are huge advocates of living a life of guilt-free balance, so sometimes (like right now), we’re going to bring you recipes that are full of all the carby/cheesy goodness so that you can savour, enjoy and move on—because quite frankly, you work too hard not to treat yourself every now and then. The best part? This lasagna is a cinch to make; made from actual pasta rather than sheets, so you can get as creative as you like with it.
Plus, there are some nutritional benefits of this recipe. Just half an onion equates to one serve of vegetable and accounts for 13% of your daily Vitamin C intake, not to mention the cancer-fighting properties found in tomatoes. But now we’re just trying to justify it.
Enjoy your lasagna, every little mouthful!
CHEATS LASAGNA
Serves 6
Prep 20 mins
Cooking time 50 mins
Ingredients
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 2 red onions, peeled, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 500g beef mince
- 3 x 400g cans diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp white sugar
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 625g packet fresh ricotta and spinach tortellini
- 250g piece mozzarella, thickly sliced
- fresh basil leaves, to serve
Béchamel sauce
- 40g butter, chopped
- ¼ cup plain flour
- 3 cups full cream milk
- Pinch ground nutmeg
Method
1. Preheat oven 220°C fan forced. Lightly grease a large, deep ovenproof dish.
2. Heat oil in a medium, deep frying pan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally for 6 minutes, or until onion is soft. Increase heat to high, add mince. Cook, stirring to break up mince, for 4 minutes, or until browned.
3. Add tomatoes and sugar. Bring to boil. Gently boil, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, or until sauce thickens slightly. Stir in basil. Season.
4. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling, salted water for 3 minutes. Drain.
5. For béchamel sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until foaming. Add flour. Cook, stirring for 2 minutes, or until bubbling. Remove from heat. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly, until smooth. Return to the heat. Cook, whisking until sauce comes to the boil. Remove from heat. Stir in nutmeg, season.
6. To assemble, spoon half the pasta into the prepared dish. Spoon over half the beef mixture. Spoon over half the béchamel sauce. Repeat with remaining pasta, beef mixture and béchamel sauce. Top with mozzarella.
7. Place onto a tray and bake for 25 minutes, or until cheese is golden. Sprinkle with extra basil leaves and pepper. Serve.
Serving Suggestion: Delicious served with rocket and baby spinach tossed with balsamic dressing.
Tip: Tortellini can be replaced with other types of filled pasta i.e. agnolotti or ravioli.
Tip: Try adding 2 teaspoons dried chilli flakes with onion and garlic for a spicy kick.
You can make the lasagna to the end step 5 the night before. Cover and place in the fridge. It will take about 40 minutes to cook from fridge temperature.
Recipe by Australian Onions
