Beef and Eggplant Lasagne
Adapted from the WTF Recipe Book
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
Beef sauce*
1-2 Tbs olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp salt
500g beef mince (or you could use lamb mince)
400g can diced tomatoes
½ cup chicken or beef stock
2 good tsp mixed herbs/Italian herbs
1-2 Tbs tomato paste (I used a sachet)
Black pepper
*I added diced celery and 1 cup sliced button mushrooms. You could also add diced zucchini or maybe spinach to bulk it out.
Eggplant layers
1 large or 2 medium eggplants (I used two medium)
3-4 Tbs olive oil
White Sauce
150g pot of sour cream
125g full fat cream cheese
1 egg
½ tsp salt
Topping
½-1 cup of grated Parmesan or tasty cheese
Method
Pre-heat oven to fan bake 180 degrees (200 degrees regular). Spray a 20-25cm square baking dish with oil. Line an oven tray with baking paper.
Heat 1 Tbs oil in a thick bottomed, medium sized pot over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and salt and cook for about four minutes, or until soft, stirring occasionally. Add celery and mushrooms, (and other veggies) if using, and cook another two minutes. Add mince, increase the heat to high and cook for another 4 minutes, breaking up the mince as it cooks.
Add the rest of the beef sauce ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer and cover the pot. Simmer for 25 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the mince is cooked.
While the beef sauce is cooking slice the eggplant into rounds 5mm thick. Place on the lined baking tray and rub the oil over the eggplant rounds with your fingers (it sinks in pretty quickly!). Season with salt and pepper and bake for about 10-12 minutes, until the eggplant is tender.
To make the white sauce, put all the ingredients into a food processor or blender and blitz, or whisk by hand.
To assemble, spoon half the mince mixture into the baking dish and top with half the eggplant slices. Repeat with mince and eggplant. Pour the white sauce over the top and smooth out. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese has browned a little and the lasagne is bubbling.
Serve with salad or steamed veggies, or cauliflower rice.
