Silverbeet Lasagne

It's one of those weekends where you haven't quite run down the fridge enough to justify buying a whole shop of new food, but at the same time you're a bit worried you might run out of food midway through the week. Planning to the rescue! One of our purchases last week was a huge bunch of silverbeet, and a fairly large bunch of beetroot. While we'd eaten the roots of the latter, the leaves and stalks were still hanging around, and we hadn't even made a dent in the silverbeet. So I googled around, and found this recipe, added the beetroot stalks, and it worked out remarkably well. In fact the beetroot stalks added a really nice purple colour. For perhaps the first time ever, I managed not to burn the top of the lasagne, by covering it in foil. Genius (/facepalm).

Ingredients:

• 2kg of silverbeet and/or beetroot stalks & leaves
• 1 large white or red onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 3 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1 x 50g tin of tomato puree or paste
• 1/2 glass red wine
• 6 tsp dried mixed herbs, or a few handfuls of fresh
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tsp sugar
• salt and black pepper
• 120g butter
• 100g plain flour
• 1 litre of milk
• 1 cup of grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• lemon juice
• 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese

Finely chop the onion and fry gently in olive oil until translucent and starting to colour. Crush in the garlic, fry for a further minute, then add the tins of tomatoes and puree, rinsing them out with some red wine and a little water. Add the herbs, bay leaves and sugar; stir, cover and cook for an hour, stirring occasionally, until thickened. If it stays too runny, remove the lid to reduce the water content. Taste and season.

While the sauce is cooking, melt the butter in the microwave and add the plain flour, then gently stir in the milk a little at a time. Microwave for a minute or two, stirring every thirty seconds, until it begins to thicken. Add the Parmesan cheese and nutmeg, then again season to taste.

Wash the beet plants thoroughly, then separate the stalks and leaves (you don't have to be exact). Finely chop the stalks and fry in a little olive oil, then cover and steam for a minute or two in their own juices. Meanwhile, roughly chop the leaves, then add to the stalks, cover and steam for a further minute or two until wilted. Drain the cooked beet plants into a colander and squeeze out the liquid with a spatula, or, after it cools, with your hands. The volume will reduce by about half to two-thirds! Squeeze over a little lemon and season well.

When the tomato, cheese and silverbeet are done, begin the lasagne assembly; I prefer the order: tomato, lasagne, tomato, silverbeet, lasagne, cheese, lasagne, tomato, silverbeet, lasagne, cheese; then top with cheddar and cover with foil. Bake at 175 C for an hour, removing the foil for the last 15 minutes to allow the cheese to turn golden. Rest of 10 minutes before slicing.

Courgette Lasagne

I know, I know. As soon as you read that title, you thought - 'Oh no, that sounds totally tasteless.' Well, fear not! I have actually found (and fixed) a good recipe, for this most classic of vegetarian staples, and it actually seems to work!  It's quite filling as-is, but you might find that with the low protein content, you're hungrier a bit sooner in the morning than you might be normally. I suspect that the calorie count on this is quite a bit lower than in the meat equivalent. At this time of year, when courgettes are stacked up high on the grocers' shelves, it's also quite stunningly cheap.

Ingredients:

• two large onions (white, red or both)
• a 340g tin of tomatoes
• a generous handful of fresh oregano, or 2 tsp dried
• 3-4 large courgettes (about 700g)
• half a head of garlic
• 9-10 dried lasagne sheets
• a small bunch of basil
• one 250g tub ricotta (or two if you like it more creamy - I do!)
• 50g cheddar

Finely chop and fry one of the onions for a couple of minutes, then add the herbs and tin of tomatoes; simmer for 20-30 minutes until reduced and thickened, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking. Meanwhile...

Heat oven to 200C. Put a pan of water on to boil, then cook the lasagne sheets for about 5 mins until softened, but not cooked through (or not, if you're using instant lasagne sheets).

Finely chop the other onion; grate the courgettes; finely slice or crush the garlic. In a large frying pan, fry the onion, then add the courgettes and garlic; fry until the courgettes have released their water and turned bright green. Turn off the heat, tear in the basil, and stir in all of the ricotta, then season to taste. You may well need to add quite a lot of salt or even stock powder at this point - get it right because it's no good if it's bland.

In a large baking dish, layer up the lasagne, starting with half the courgette mix, then pasta, then tomato sauce. Repeat, putting a fine layer of tomato sauce on the top, then scatter with the cheddar. Bake on the top shelf for 10-15 mins until the pasta is tender and the cheese is golden.

Lasagne

Mmmm, hearty food. We made this on Tuesday night, ready to be baked on Wednesday, after we got home from swimming. Worked out well, although I wish I had an oven with a timer so that in future it could be waiting for us as we arrive! It's always worth making a big quantity of lasagne; we're limited by the fact that our kitchenware hasn't yet arrived so we only have the one Le Creuset tray. But we certainly made enough for two meals - so this serves four.

Ingredients:

• 500g good quality beef mince
• 1 white onion
• 1 red onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 sticks of celery
• 250g of white mushrooms
• 4 small cloves of garlic
• 2 340g tins of diced tomatoes
• 4 bay leaves
• a handful of fresh oregano, or 1 tsp of dried
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp butter
• 500ml milk
• 10-12 sheets of lasagne; enough for three layers in your tray (you can lay them down and test it out beforehand)
• grated cheese, to top
• salt and pepper

Dice the onions, carrots and celery, and cut the mushrooms into 1/2-cm wide slices. Fry with the beef mince for 10 minutes, until the beef has browned and the onions have softened. (For years I fried everything separately, as I was taught, and I've found that for a sauce that then goes on to cook for ages, it makes absolutely NO difference.) Crush the garlic into the mixture, then add the tomatoes and herbs. Stir well to combine, then cover and simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally so as not to let it stick to the bottom.

Meanwhile, prepare a white sauce - I prefer to melt the butter in a pyrex jug in the microwave, stir in the flour, slowly add the milk, then microwave for four minutes, stopping every minute to stir well. Season the white sauce and tomato sauce to taste. Soak the lasagne sheets if they are the kind that need it.

When you're ready to assemble the lasagne, add the ingredients in layers; my favourite is: tomato, lasagne, tomato, white sauce, lasagne, tomato, lasagne, white sauce, cheese. At this point it keeps perfectly well in the fridge for a couple of days. When you're ready, bake it for 45 minutes at 200C; if adding straight from the fridge, put it in while the oven is cool and start timing from when it reaches 200C; this will allow your tray time to heat up without cracking. Serve with a green salad or some steamed veggies.

Pumpkin and Goats Cheese Lasagne

One of my two favourite vegetarian lasagne recipes, this combines sweet roasted pumpkin with soft goats cheese and a garlicy tomato sauce into a taste explosion. I've adapted it from my memory of a Nigella Lawson recipe; hers is in her Christmas book and uses butternut squash. As usual, I used a Crown Prince - still £3 per 4 kg pumpkin in the market!

Ingredients:

• 1.2-1.4 kg good pumpkin, unpeeled weight
• 2 tsp dried or fresh thyme or rosemary
• 1 white onion
• 1 red onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 glass of white wine
• 2 bay leaves
• 3 x 400g tins of tomatoes (chopped or plum)
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 250g of fresh lasagne sheets, or 180g dried
• 375g of soft, white rindless goat's cheese
• Parmesan cheese

Peel the pumpkin, discard any string and seeds, and chop into large (~1.5") pieces. Toss with the herbs, 1 tsp of salt and a little vegetable oil; roast at 200C for 35 minutes until tender and caramelised. Meanwhile, finely chop the onions and fry over a low heat for 10 minutes, until softened. Crush in the cloves of garlic and cook for a further minute. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and stir until the alcohol evaporates. Add the bay leaves, tomatoes and tomato purée; cover and bring to a simmer, then cook uncovered for 20 minutes until the tomatoes have broken up and the sauce has reduced by about 10%. Season to taste.

Pre-cook your lasagne sheets if they demand it. Slice the goat's cheese into rough ~cm-thick circles. In a deep lasagne dish, add:

1. a few tbsp of tomato sauce
2. lasagne
3. tomato sauce
4. half of the roast pumpkin
5. lasagne
6. tomato sauce
7. half of the goat's cheese circles
8. lasagne
9. tomato sauce
10. the rest of the pumpkin
11. a layer of lasagne
12. tomato sauce
13. the rest of the goat's cheese circles
14. a layer of lasagne
15. a few tbsp of tomato sauce
16. a generous grating of Parmesan cheese

(This is why I use a deep lasagne tray!) Cook in the oven at 170 C for 45 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Rest for at least 10 minutes before cutting: if you can make this an hour ahead, it tastes better for it. It also keeps excellently in a cool place; somehow the flavours become even more sweet and delicious over time. We usually reheat it in pieces in the microwave, but if you plan to make it for guests on the following day, then you can cook it for 35 minutes the first time, chill until needed, then cook again in the oven for 35 minutes, rest for 10 minutes, then serve.

Tonight we served it with a shredded gem lettuce and a splash of balsamic vinegar, and garlic bread. I've never made garlic bread before, so I followed the excellent Joy of Cooking instructions. Take a baguette and slice it width-wise into circular coins - but don't cut all the way through the bread. Melt a few slices of butter in the microwave, and crush in a clove of garlic per person. Open each gap between the bread 'coins' and spoon in a little garlicy butter. Wrap in foil and bake at 200 C for twenty minutes, then bring to the table and unwrap in a cloud of garlicy steam. Yum!