I finally got around to redoing the lasagna recipe with a much drier sauce. By sweating off the vegetables and by using the basket-on-top-of-the-lid technique, I was able to get rid of some of the water that was the problem in Version 1. This recipe does look like a lot of work because it’s got quite a few ingredients and steps – however, it is actually pretty easy as there’s isn’t a lot of preparation and you can just set the timer and you have lots of time to get ready for the next step.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 large red onion, peeled and quartered
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 small carrots, peeled and cut into 2 cm pieces
2 small zucchini, trimmed and cut into 2cm pieces
6 small mushrooms, halved
10g + 20g olive oil
200g lean pork mince
200g veal or beef mince
Salt and pepper, to season
2 x 400g cans crushed tomato
80g tomato paste
20g Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp dried parsley
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
40g Thermomix vegetable stock concentrate
3-4 sheets fresh lasagna
250g mozzarella cheese, grated
250g reduced fat tasty or cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Add carrots, zucchini and mushrooms into the Thermomix bowl and chop with the measuring cup (MC) on for 3 seconds/Speed 6
3. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add 10g of the oil and cook the vegetables for 5 minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Speed 1 with the MC off
4. Strain the vegetables through the Thermomix basket and set aside
5. Add the onion and garlic into the Thermomix bowl and chop with the MC on for 5 seconds/Speed 5
5. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add 20g of oil and sauté with the MC off for 2 minutes/Varoma/Speed 2
6. Add the pork, veal, salt and pepper into the Thermomix bowl, use the spatula to quickly mix the ingredients together and then cook with the MC off for 8 minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Speed soft
7. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, dried herbs, stock and cooked vegetables, use the spatula to quickly mix the ingredients together and cook for 15 minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Speed soft with the Thermomix basket sitting on top of the closed lid
8. Stir with the spatula, taste and add additional seasoning if necessary then cook for another 15 minutes/Varoma/Reverse/Speed soft with the Thermomix basket sitting on top of the closed lid
9. Cover the base of a 25.5cm x 25.5cm (or 9 inch x 9 inch) roasting dish with about 0.5cm layer of sauce
10. Put a layer of lasagna sheets on top of the sauce
11. Mix the cheeses together and sprinkle half of the cheese over the lasagna sheets
12. Top with all but about 2 cups of sauce (up to the top of blades) and add another layer of lasagna sheets
13. Put with the rest of the sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining cheese
14. Bake in the middle shelf of the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the cheese is golden brown
15. Let rest for 10-15 minutes with a piece of aluminum foil on top before serving
Notes
1. This makes 4 very generous servings, so it will feed 6 if you serve it with something else – like a salad or steamed veggies.
2. In the interest of full disclosure, cooking the sauce on Varoma did burn the bottom of the bowl, so if you want to avoid the extra cleaning, then cook the sauce at 100C and add extra cooking time to allow the water in the sauce to evaporate.
Tips and Hints
1. Cheese can be very salty so don’t over salt the sauce – otherwise the lasagna will end up being too salty
2. The lasagna sheets will expand as they cook so overlap them to avoid the sheets buckling against each other
3. If after 30 minutes, the top isn’t brown, turn on the grill to finish it off
4. Take leftover sheets and cut into 1cm strips to make into fettuccini. They can be frozen in sealable bags.
