Light But Luxurious Lasagne Recipes

Steps:

• Drain soaked mushrooms and then mince. Reserve soaking liquid but strain it through a cheesecloth lined sieve. First make the cream sauce: Heat 4 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy stainless saucepan. When foaming subsides, add the flour and stir continuously with a wooden spoon. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat. Whisk in the reserved mushroom juices and heavy cream and whisk until smooth. Simmer 5 minutes or until velvety and season to taste with salt pepper and nutmeg. Reserve until later. Now make the filling: In a large skillet heat remaining 3 tablespoons of butter along with the olive oil. Add the fresh mushrooms and garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the minced soaked mushrooms, prosciutto and saute a moment. Add the wine and evaporate for a minute or two. Lower the heat and cook, covered until the mushrooms are tender and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Cut the pasta sheets into strips 3 to 4 inches wide and long enough to fit into your gratin or baking dish. Boil a few sheets at a time until 3/4 done. Drain and cool on clean cloths. To assemble: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Butter a gratin dish. Cover with a layer of lasagne. Top with 1/4 of cream sauce, 1/4 of Parmesan and 1/3 of mushroom mix. Continue with pasta, sauce, cheese, mushrooms for 2 more layers, finishing with a sheet of pasta. Drizzle any liquid left in mushroom pan over the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.

Steps:

• For the ragu, melt the butter in a large flameproof casserole dish over a medium heat until foaming. Add the celery, carrot, onion, porcini, rosemary and some seasoning, and fry for 5 mins.
• Season the meat, add to the dish and cook for 5 mins until browned. Pour in the wine, add the tomatoes and bring to the boil.
• Reduce the heat to low, put the lid on the dish and cook for 1hr 30 mins, removing the lid for the final 30 mins so the sauce can reduce. The meat should be tender but not too broken up, and the sauce should be thick. Taste for seasoning. You can cook it for longer if you have time - the flavour will only improve.
• For the béchamel sauce, pour the milk into a saucepan with the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, turn off the heat and set aside. In a heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat, then whisk in the flour and hot milk. Whisk vigorously until smooth, then cook for 10-15 mins until very thick. Remove the bay leaf and season, grating in nutmeg to taste. Stir in the parmesan and egg yolks, then set aside to cool.
• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Working in batches of three, plunge the pasta sheets into a pan of boiling salted water for 20 secs, just to soften, then immediately put in a bowl of ice-cold water.
• Rub oil onto the base and sides of a large baking dish. Put a layer of pasta on the base, then add a layer of ragu, followed by a layer of béchamel sauce. A good tip, for really defined layers, is to pipe the béchamel sauce over.
• Repeat this process until you have used all the pasta and ragu, and finish with a layer of béchamel sauce on top. Sprinkle the top with a generous layer of parmesan.
• Bake in the oven for 40-45 mins or until bubbling and golden brown, then remove from the oven and leave to settle for 10 mins.
• Cut the lasagne into squares and let it sit for another 10 mins before serving - this keeps the layers defined and helps it cool down more quickly.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Mix the spinach, cottage cheese, and egg in a large bowl.
• Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Cook the onion, garlic, mushrooms, and carrot until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground turkey, and stir until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Pour the pasta sauce and water into the skillet. Season with rosemary,oregano, and basil. Simmer sauce for 10 minutes.
• Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Spread 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom of the pan, and top with 3 noodles. Spoon an additional 1/3 of the sauce on the noodles; top with the spinach mixture. Sprinkle with 1/2 of the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining 3 noodles and the rest of the sauce. Pour the vegetable juice evenly over the lasagna, and top with the remaining mozzarella. Cover the dish with foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes. Remove foil, and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let lasagna rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

Steps:

• Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7. Put the aubergine, courgette, pepper and onion in a large, shallow roasting tin. Scatter with the chilli flakes and season with pepper and a pinch of salt. Pour the oil over, toss together to coat (you can use your hands for this), then spread the vegetables out in a single layer. Roast for 15 mins, then give them a stir and spread them out again. Roast for another 10-15 mins until softened and turning golden.
• While the vegetables are roasting, make the tomato sauce. Tip the tomatoes into a medium pan, then pour 100ml water into the empty can, swirl it round and pour into the saucepan. Add the carrot and garlic, and simmer gently for 20-25 mins, partly covered with the lid and stirring occasionally, until the carrot is just tender. Stir in the tomato purée and the lentils, season with pepper and simmer for 2 mins more. Remove from the heat, stir in the basil and set aside.
• Tip the spinach into a large heatproof bowl, pour over boiling water, press the leaves into the water and leave for 30 secs. Drain in a large colander and rinse under cold water briefly to cool it down quickly. Squeeze the spinach to remove the excess water, then roughly chop. Beat the egg in a bowl and stir in the ricotta, oregano, nutmeg and some pepper.
• Lay the lasagne sheets, spread well out, in a large shallow roasting tin and pour boiling water over to cover. Move them around with a wooden spoon to make sure they aren't sticking, then leave for 5 mins. ('No pre-cook' lasagne sheets benefit from a brief soaking, which improves the texture and makes them more pliable for layering in the dish.) Drain well and immediately separate them out to prevent them sticking.
• When the vegetables have finished roasting, lower the heat to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Spread a very thin layer of the tomato sauce (about 2 big spoonfuls) over the bottom of an ovenproof dish, about 25 x 18 x 7cm deep and 2 litres capacity. Lay 3 lasagne sheets across the width of the dish and spread over half of the remaining sauce and half of the roasted vegetables. Cover with 3 more lasagne sheets, then spread the spinach over the top and season with pepper. Put the ricotta mixture on top in spoonfuls and spread out over the spinach. Cover with the last 3 lasagne sheets. Spread over the rest of the tomato sauce and then the remaining roasted vegetables. Scatter over the mozzarella and Parmesan to cover the vegetables and sauce as much as possible, then top with the cherry tomatoes. Season with pepper and lay a piece of foil loosely over the top. Can be made up to a day ahead and chilled - allow an extra few mins when baking the next day. Or freeze for up to 1 month and thaw overnight in the fridge.
• Bake for 35 mins, then remove the foil and bake for a further 5-10 mins until everything is bubbling around the edges. Scatter with oregano and basil leaves, and serve with a green salad.

Steps:

• Heat up a big saucepan and add the olive oil. Sweat the onion, celery, carrot and garlic for around five minutes over a medium heat.
• Heat a frying pan up until very hot and cook the seasoned beef, without any oil, in batches. Then add the beef to the saucepan.
• The point of cooking the beef in batches is to get a good colour on it because this adds more flavour.
• When all the beef is in the saucepan, turn up the heat and add the wine.
• Cook until the wine has all been absorbed and then add the tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, bay leaf and oregano. Season and simmer for 30 minutes or until rich and tasty.
• Preheat a conventional oven to 180ºC, or a fan-assisted one to 160ºC.
• Heat a griddle pan. Season the courgettes and lightly chargrill or sear on each side, then leave on a plate until assembling time. Drain the peppers and also add to the plate.
• For the cheese sauce: heat the milk up gently with a good grating of nutmeg, some salt and pepper. Mix the cornflour with 50ml of the milk and whisk back into the milk, continuing to cook for two to three minutes until thickened.
• Add the mustard and half the cheese. Check the seasoning and set aside.
• Now for the fun part: Take a baking dish and start layering up the ingredients. Start with a layer of meat, then peppers, then meat, then courgettes, then meat, then pasta and finally cheese sauce.
• Top with the rest of the cheese and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbling.