Dalia's Kitchen: August 2010

The thing about pasta is, that you can either make it super heavy and fattening, or you can try to tweak corners and end up with a lighter dish. Don't get me wrong, grilled fish and steamed veggies will still shed pounds faster, but this is a not so naughty lasagna :) Since I cook and eat quite a lot, I try to balance meals, without sacrificing taste.. In this recipe I used lean meat, avoided a buttery, white sauce or full fat cheese, and still ended up with a delicious lasagna! You can't even tell this is a skinnier version.. Honest! Don't be intimidated by the long list of ingredients, it's really quite simple to make..

Serves 4-6

For the light béchamel sauce:

1 1/2 TBL light olive oil
2 TBL flour
500ml low fat milk
1/2 cup low fat mozzarella, grated
1 tsp nutmeg
salt and cracked pepper to taste

For the meat ragout:

350g minced lean beef
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 pepper chopped (yellow or red)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
1/2 tsp of all spice
1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
2 bay leaves
1 tsp brown sugar
1 TBL Worcester sauce
2 TBL light cooking cream
salt and cracked pepper to tastes
light olive oil

lasagna sheets
~ 2 cups of low fat mozzarella & Parmesan cheese, grated (for the topping)

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil and flour until it turns slightly golden brown, and add the milk, nutmeg, salt & pepper to taste and bring it to a boil.. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until it thickens, then add the cheese and set aside..

Preheat the oven to 200 C.. In another sauce pan, heat some olive oil and add the onions and garlic.. Cook it for a bit, then add the peppers, celery, carrots and cook it for a minutes or so.. Add the minced meat, then the Worcester sauce, all spice, oregano, basil, and bay leaves.. Sautee it for a few minutes, add the chopped tomatoes & sauce, salt and pepper to taste.. Simmer the meat mixture for about 25 minutes, until everything combines and thickens and resembles a meat ragout..

Now assemble the lasagna in a baking dish.. Start by adding a little of the sauce on the bottom of the dish, then lay one layer of the lasagna sheets, add more meat sauce, another pasta sheet layer, the béchamel sauce and so on.. When you get to the last layer (I usually make 4 or 5 layers in total), pour the remaining béchamel, and top it with the Mozzarella Parmesan mixture.. Place the lasagna in the oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes.. Serve with a green salad and voila, delicious but not-so-naughty lasagna :)