Beef and Spinach Lasagne

Lasagne is one of those classic dishes that is often requested by my family.. This recipe is an adaptation of my Lasagne/Cannelloni recipe where the tomato and meat filling are cooked separately then mixed together. In this recipe I've cooked the meat and tomato filling together to save time and save on washing the Tefal Cuisine Companion bowl, in fact there is no need to wash the bowl after making the meat filling, just rinse and dry and continue with the cheese sauce. The addition of cottage cheese imparts a beautiful creaminess to the sauce and can be store bought or made from scratch using my recipe on this blog.

TIP: Always pre bake your prepared lasagne for 20 minutes then set aside for at least 1 hour before topping with cheese and baking. I sometimes make in the morning or the day before, pre cook then refrigerate before topping with cheese before baking.

Note: For convenience I use frozen spinach thawed overnight through wire mesh sieve sitting over a bowl and squeezed through a clean tea towel to remove excess liquid when ready to use.

Note: Australian spoon measurements used - 1 tablespoon = 20 mls. 1 teaspoon = 5 mls

To Assemble

Dried lasagne sheets.

Grated Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese or pre packaged grated pasta bake cheese.

Meat Filling

1 brown Onion peeled and quartered

2 Garlic Cloves peeled

1 tablespoon Olive Oil
4 rashers short cut Bacon diced

500 gms Minced Beef

1 tablespoon Tomato Paste
1 tin crushed Tomatoes
150 gms semi sundried Tomatoes roughly chopped
1 teaspoon Brown Sugar
2 teaspoons Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 teaspoon dried Italian Herbs or 2 tablespoons of fresh chopped herbs or to taste. I added 1 tablespoon each of fresh basil and oregano.

250 gms frozen chopped Spinach, thawed and well drained.

2 tablespoons Cream
1/2 cup fresh Basil or mixed fresh Herbs roughly chopped extra

Insert Ultrablade. Stopper in.

Add onion and garlic

Pulse until finely chopped scraping bowl as necessary

Leave Ultrablade in throughout cooking. Remove Stopper. Place a piece of paper towelling over the hole in lid to prevent splattering.
Add olive oil and bacon to chopped onion and garlic.

Slow Cook P1:7mins  scraping bowl with spatula as necessary.

Add minced beef and stir through with spatula.

Slow Cook P1:5mins scraping bowl with spatula as necessary

Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, sun dried tomatoes, brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper and fresh or dried herbs. Stir through with spatula

Slow Cook P2:20mins scraping bowl with spatula as necessary
Remove Ultrablade

Add cream, well drained chopped spinach, fresh basil or herbs of choice and stir through with spatula or wooden spoon until well combined.
Set aside mixture in heat proof bowl.
Rinse and dry Cuisine Companion bowl.

Cheese Bechamel

This is an adapted recipe from the Million Menus cookbook

750 gms milk

75 gms Plain Flour

Salt and Pepper to taste

75 gms butter diced

250-300 gms cottage cheese blended smooth using Tefal mini bowl Speed 11 or stick blender or pushed through a fine wire mesh sieve
Insert Whisk. Stopper in.

Add milk and flour

Sp7:1min 20sec

Remove Stopper
Add diced butter, salt and pepper

Sp4:90deg:10-11 mins or until thickened

Add cottage cheese

Sp4:1min or until smooth

Set aside 15 mins.

Lasagne assembly

Grease a rectangular lasagne baking dish. Mine measured 25x20cm

Add a layer of meat 

Add a layer of dried or fresh lasagne sheets

Add a layer of Bechamel cheese sauce

Repeat all layers ending with cheese sauce

Bake 170 deg for 20 mins then set aside for at least 1 hour before topping with cheese and baking 170 deg for 20-25 mins or until golden.