Gluten Free and Lactose Free Lasagna

Sometimes you just want some good comfort food and I was in the mood for some good homemade lasagna.

Serving: 10-12

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins

Dairy-free Béchamel

(the recipe is the same used for the MOUSSAKA recipe, except i 1.5 times it for this recipe)

Recipe adapted from Tesco Real Food Recipes https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/dairy-free-bechamel-sauce.html

Ingredients:

1.5 onion, peeled and roughly sliced
600ml soya milk
150ml water
2 1/4 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder
3 cloves
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
4 1/2 tbsp cornflour
3 tbsp vegetable oil
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper

Method:

Put the onion slices in a pan. Pour in the soya milk and the water. Add the stock powder, cloves, bay leaves and nutmeg. Bring the mixture to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside for 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onion, cloves and bay leaves and discard.
In a separate saucepan, mix together the cornflour and oil until you have a smooth paste. Gradually pour in the FLAVORED soya milk, whisking constantly.
Place the pan on the heat. Bring to the boil, whisking the whole time, until the mixture thickens to a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and use as required.

Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb (450g) ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped or cut into half moons
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 (15 oz. or 400g) cans of crushed tomatoes
6 oz. (170g) tomato paste
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons sugar
2-3 teaspoons Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese -divided
12 gluten free lasagna noodles (I had used explore cuisine, green lentil lasagne)
salt and pepper

Method:

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.
Make the meat sauce: Add onion and carrots over medium high heat and cook until slightly softened. then add beef breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook until meat is browned, about 6-8 minutes. Drain the fat if there is any.
Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes.
As the sauce cooks, make bechamel sauce.
Cook the pasta al dente, according to it’s package directions or follow the package directions as you might not need to cook the pasta beforehand.
Assemble the lasagna: In a 13x9 inch baking dish, add a very thin layer of meat sauce (about 1/4 cup). Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/4 of the bechamel sauce, and 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce. Repeat the layers twice.
Add a final layer of the remaining noodles, bechamel sauce, meat sauce, and parmesan.
Bake for 45 minutes. if it burns or cooks to quickly on top, wrap with foil.
Let the lasagna cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting.

This was super delicious and the LASAGNA noodles were also very good. i find with any gluten free pasta it is always a hit and miss because the texture is never consistent, sometimes you have a mushy pasta and even a grainy pasta. but this was firm yet chewy and almost was like real LASAGNA noodles. there was enough of both sauce and a good ratio between them, you want to have enough sauce to be able to cook and add moisture to the noodles. we almost ate the whole thing the first time around as it was that tasty but it actually tasted a bit better the next day. i will definitely be making this again, it is now my go to recipe for gluten free and lactose free lasagna. something about a nice warm homemade piece of lasagna will put a smile on anyone’s face and leaves the stomach full and satisfied.

There is some prep work that needs to be done but both the bechamel and meat sauce can be made ahead of time. then IT'S just ASSEMBLING the layers and putting it into the oven. so a bit of time and effort needs to go into it, but other than that it is quite an easy recipe to make and well you can also use this recipe to make it not gluten free and lactose free by using milk and normal LASAGNA noodles.

Gluten Free and Lactose Free Lasagna

Sometimes you just want some good comfort food and I was in the mood for some good homemade lasagna.

Serving: 10-12

Prep time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour 15 mins

Dairy-free Béchamel

(the recipe is the same used for the MOUSSAKA recipe, except i 1.5 times it for this recipe)

Recipe adapted from Tesco Real Food Recipes https://realfood.tesco.com/recipes/dairy-free-bechamel-sauce.html

1.5 onion, peeled and roughly sliced

600ml soya milk

150ml water

2 1/4 tsp vegetable or chicken stock powder

3 cloves

3 bay leaves

1/4 tsp grated nutmeg

4 1/2 tbsp cornflour

3 tbsp vegetable oil

pinch of salt

pinch of pepper

Put the onion slices in a pan. Pour in the soya milk and the water. Add the stock powder, cloves, bay leaves and nutmeg. Bring the mixture to the boil, then remove from the heat and set aside for 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, remove the onion, cloves and bay leaves and discard.

In a separate saucepan, mix together the cornflour and oil until you have a smooth paste. Gradually pour in the FLAVORED soya milk, whisking constantly.

Place the pan on the heat. Bring to the boil, whisking the whole time, until the mixture thickens to a smooth sauce. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and use as required.

Meat Sauce

1 lb (450g) ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped

2 carrots, chopped or cut into half moons

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 (15 oz. or 400g) cans of crushed tomatoes

6 oz. (170g) tomato paste

1/2 cup water

2 tablespoons sugar

2-3 teaspoons Italian seasonings (oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese -divided

12 gluten free lasagna noodles (I had used explore cuisine, green lentil lasagne)

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F/190C.

Make the meat sauce: Add onion and carrots over medium high heat and cook until slightly softened. then add beef breaking it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook until meat is browned, about 6-8 minutes. Drain the fat if there is any.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, sugar, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined. Cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer the sauce for 30 minutes.

As the sauce cooks, make bechamel sauce.

Cook the pasta al dente, according to it’s package directions or follow the package directions as you might not need to cook the pasta beforehand.

Assemble the lasagna: In a 13x9 inch baking dish, add a very thin layer of meat sauce (about 1/4 cup). Layer 3 lasagna noodles, 1/4 of the bechamel sauce, and 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce. Repeat the layers twice.

Add a final layer of the remaining noodles, bechamel sauce, meat sauce, and parmesan.

Bake for 45 minutes. if it burns or cooks to quickly on top, wrap with foil.

Let the lasagna cool for 15-20 minutes before cutting.