Our recipe for wellbeing
Skinny Beef Lasagne
Kenneth Farrand
The pasta is replaced with sheets of blanched leeks so you can have all the flavour without the calorie count .
Ingredients Method
2 large leeks , each about 300g 1 medium onion 2 celery sticks , trimmed 2 carrots , peeled 500g lean minced beef
2 garlic cloves , peeled and crushed
150g mushrooms , wiped and chopped
2 tbsp . plain flour 150ml red wine
200ml beef stock , made with 1 beef stock cube
400g can of chopped tomatoes 2 tbsp . tomato purée 1 heaped tsp . dried oregano 2 bay leaves 500ml semi-skimmed milk 3 tbsp . cornflour Freshly grated nutmeg , to taste 50g extra-mature cheddar , grated 25g parmesan , finely grated 3 medium vine tomatoes , sliced Freshly ground black pepper
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Trim the leeks until they are about the same width as your lasagne dish . Cut the leeks lengthways through to the middle but no further . Open out the leeks and remove five or six of the narrow leaves from the centre of each leek . Thinly slice these inner leaves . Separate the larger leaves . These will be your ‘ lasagne sheets ’. Finely chop half the onion and cut the other half into wedges . Thinly slice the celery and dice the carrots . Put minced beef in a large non-stick frying pan with the sliced leeks , chopped onion , celery , carrots and garlic . Place the pan over a medium-high heat and fry without added fat for about 10 minutes until lightly coloured . You ’ ll need to break up the mince with a couple of wooden spatulas or spoons as it cooks . Stir in the chopped mushrooms and cook for 2 – 3 minutes . The pan should look fairly dry at this point . Sprinkle over the plain flour and stir it thoroughly into the mince and vegetables . Slowly stir in red wine and beef stock . Add the canned tomatoes , tomato purée and dried oregano , then drop a bay leaf into the pan and bring it to a simmer . Season with lots of freshly ground black pepper . Turn down the heat slightly and leave the mince to simmer for 20 – 30 minutes until rich and thick , stirring occasionally . While the mince is cooking , put the onion wedges in a saucepan with the remaining bay leaf . In a small bowl mix three tablespoons of the milk with the cornflour .
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