Lasagne al la Sweetpea

This is one of my all time favourite dishes! I just love making it and it's fantastic for dinner parties because you can make it before your guests arrive and grill just before serving.

I start with making the meat sauce. You will need 250g extra trim beef mice, two tablespoons tomatoes paste, 1 can of Italian tomatoes, 1 large chopped onion, fresh herbs (basil and oregano), 1 teaspoon chutney and 3 garlic cloves.
Start by frying browning the onion and finely chopped garlic in olive oil. Add the mince and herbs and fry mince till golden brown. Add the tin of tomatoes and paste along with the tsp chutney and simmer on low for 30 min. Set aside.
Vegetarian option: I have also tried a vegetarian version of this lasagne. Instead of the meat you can substitute mince with aubergine (4 peeled and cubed). I used the same method as above but 1 extra can of tomatoe as the aubergine tend to absorb alot of liquid in cooking process.

Then the cheese sauce. Take 4 heaped tablespoons of flour and equal amount of butter or margarine. Make a paste. I use a whisk to form the paste. Add 2 cups milk and stir until the flour has dissolved. Continue stirring till the sauce thickens a little and add 2 cups grated cheese(strong cheddar gives a good flavour).

Now for the layering. Start with meat sauce and a layer of lasagne sheets. I don't precook the pasta, instead I just add a little water to meat sauce and a little extra milk to the cheese sauce. This will be absorbed by the pasta when you bake it in the oven.

Continue 3 layers of pasta, meat and cheese sauce then on the final layer sprinkle some cheese and a little tomatoes for colour. I top with fresh basil right before serving as the basil can go brown when baking.Lastly, some black pepper and salt to taste. This meal great served with a green salad.