Gluten Free Lasagne with an Extra Cheesy Twist.
Intro
Lasagne is a go to recipe for a weeknight. It takes a bit of time for prep, but you can be eating the leftovers all week! It is an amazing meal prep/ bulk batch dinner that the whole family will love. I love a recipe that even a couple of days after making it fresh people are still begging for more!
Hope you enjoy this fantastic meal – gluten free style!
Now…drumroll…onto the recipe 🙂
Recipe Sheet
Gluten Free Lasagne with an Extra Cheesy Twist
Ingredients
- 500 g Mince beef
- 8 Gluten free Lasagne Sheets
- 175 g Parmesan Cheese
- 250 g Ricotta
- 2 Balls Mozzarella 300g net drained weight Mozzarella
- 50 g Tomato Puree
- 3 tbsp Oregano
- 2 tbsp Parsley
- 1 Packet Fresh Cherry Tomatoes
- 4 Cans of Chopped Tomatoes
- 1 Large White Onion
- 2 Red Bell Peppers
- 1 Packet Fresh Basil Leaves
- 2 tsp Gluten Free Beef Stock
- 2 Carrots
- Olive Oil
Instructions
- Preheat Oven 200°C (fan).
Making the Tomato Beef Sauce
- On the hob at high heat, add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan and wait for it to heat up.
- Whilst waiting for the olive oil to heat up, finely chop the white onion, red peppers and carrots.
- Add the finely chopped white onion to the hot olive oil in the pan.
- Once the onions are crispy and a lovely light brown colour, add in the finely chopped red peppers and finely chopped carrots.
- Add in a couple of leaves of fresh basil.
- Add in the 500g of beef mince, and wait for it to reach a lovely brown colour.
- Only once the beef mince is a lovely brown colour, add in 2 tablespoons of oregano, 2 tablespoons of parsley, 50g of tomato puree and 1 tablespoon of gluten free beef stock granules.
- Then, add 4 cans of chopped tomatoes to the cooked beef mix, it doesn’t matter if there is a bit too much liquid, as this will help to cook the lasagne sheets.
- Then add 20g of Parmesan cheese to the tomato/beef sauce.
Next, we move onto making the alternative white sauce
- To make white sauce mix ricotta, 20g of Parmesan, oregano and finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I used 6) in a separate bowl.
Now, we move onto the assembly of the lasagne
- Add a tiny amount of tomato/beef sauce at first (not a lot) to the bottom of the oven dish to prevent the lasagne sheets from sticking to the bottom of the dish.
- Next, load the alternative ricotta white sauce onto 2 lasagne sheets (2 lasagne sheets per layer).
- Then add sliced fresh cherry tomatoes (I used 8).
- Then add 4 slices of mozzarella (use 1 whole mozzarella ball throughout the assembly and leave one whole mozzarella ball for the end).
- Then add a sprinkle of Parmesan (make sure to leave majority of the Parmesan for the end).
- Following this, add a good amount of tomato/ beef sauce.
- Then repeat the above steps 3 more times.
- On the final stage and on the last/top final 2 lasagne sheets, add the remaining ricotta/white sauce (try to make this the thickest layer of this). Then cut up one whole mozzarella ball and spread this across the top layer, and finally use the majority of the Parmesan on top of the lasagne.
- Add the greatest amount of Parmesan, ricotta mix and mozzarella on the top/final lasagne sheet, so bear this in mind when forming your earlier layers.
- Final touches: add a handful of oregano on top, basil as well, and if you wanted to add some tomato slices or cherry tomato slices.
Cooking
- Pop in the oven for an hour with tin foil to stop the cheese from burning, whilst the gluten free sheets cool.
- Take the tin foil off for the last 15 minutes to really let the cheese crisp up.
- Voila, eat!
Ingredients
- 500g mince beef
- 8 Gluten free lasagna sheets
- 175g Parmesan cheese
- 250g ricotta
- 2 balls/ 300g net drained weight Mozzarella
- 50g Tomato puree
- 3 tablespoons Oregano
- 2 tablespoons Parsley
- A packet of Fresh cherry tomatoes (I used 20)
- 4 cans of chopped tomatoes
- 1 large white onion
- 2 Red bell peppers
- A packet of fresh basil leaves (I used 15 in total)
- 2 teaspoons Gluten free beef stock
- 2 carrots
- Olive oil
Method
- Preheat Oven 200°C (fan).
Making The Tomato Beef Sauce
- On the hob at high heat, add 1 teaspoon olive oil to the pan and wait for it to heat up.
- Whilst waiting for the olive oil to heat up, finely chop the white onion, red peppers and carrots.
- Add the finely chopped white onion to the hot olive oil in the pan.
- Once the onions are crispy and a lovely light brown colour, add in the finely chopped red peppers and finely chopped carrots.
- Add in a couple of leaves of fresh basil.
- Add in the 500g of beef mince, and wait for it to reach a lovely brown colour.
- Only once the beef mince is a lovely brown colour, add in 2 tablespoons of oregano, 2 tablespoons of parsley, 50g of tomato puree and 1 tablespoon of gluten free beef stock granules.
- Then, add 4 cans of chopped tomatoes to the cooked beef mix, it doesn’t matter if there is a bit too much liquid, as this will help to cook the lasagne sheets.
- Then add 20g of Parmesan cheese to the tomato/beef sauce.
Next, we move onto making the alternative white sauce
- Mix ricotta, 20g of Parmesan, oregano and finely chopped fresh basil leaves (I used 6) in a separate bowl.
Now, we move onto the assembly of the lasagne
- Add a tiny amount of tomato/beef sauce at first (not a lot) to the bottom of the oven dish to prevent the lasagne sheets from sticking to the bottom of the dish.
- Next, load the alternative ricotta white sauce onto 2 lasagne sheets (2 lasagne sheets per layer).
- Then add sliced fresh cherry tomatoes (I used 8).
- Then add 4 slices of mozzarella (use 1 whole mozzarella ball throughout the assembly and leave one whole mozzarella ball for the end).
- Then add a sprinkle of Parmesan (make sure to leave majority of the Parmesan for the end).Following this, add a good amount of tomato/ beef sauce.
- Then repeat the above steps 3 more times.
- On the final stage and on the last/top final 2 lasagne sheets, add the remaining ricotta/white sauce (try to make this the thickest layer of this), then cut up one whole mozzarella ball and spread this across the top layer, and finally use the majority of the parmesan on top of the lasagne.
- Add the greatest amount of Parmesan, ricotta mix and mozzarella on the top/final lasagne sheet, so bear this in mind when forming your earlier layers.
- Final touches: add a handful of oregano on top, basil, and if you wanted to, add some tomato slices or cherry tomato slices.
- Add a sprinkle of oregano and fresh basil (optional).
Cooking
- Pop in the oven for an hour with tin foil to stop the cheese from burning, whilst the gluten free sheets cool.
- Take the tin foil off for the last 15 minutes to really let the cheese crisp up.
- Voila, eat!
Tips and tricks
Cooking the onion first
At the start of the recipe, I recommended to cook the onion first on its own to really let it crisp up. The reason why I said to do this, rather than just adding in the chopped onion, red peppers and carrots all together, is because the red peppers and carrots will add water and moisture. The water from the red peppers and carrots may prevent the onion from getting crispy due to the high water content of the red peppers and carrots. That is why I would recommend waiting for the onions to crisp and then adding in the red peppers and carrots. I know it is a bit inconvenient, but well worth it for the end result! 😉
Adding in (gluten free) beef stock granules without water
The lasagne tomato/beef sauce needs to be a little on the runny side/ a very wet mixture in order to boil the uncooked lasagne sheets in the oven. Thus, you may think it odd that I tell you not to combine your beef stock granules with water to increase the water content. Personally, I think the high water/ liquid content from the chopped tomato cans are more than sufficient to boil the uncooked lasagne sheets in the oven. Why add water and dilute the flavour? By just adding the beef stock granules purely on their own, it helps to concentrate the flavour of the lasagne tomato/ beef sauce.
But, if you are worried that your tomato/beef sauce is not liquidy enough then by all means add water to your beef stock granules, whatever works for you! 🙂
Ricotta white sauce over béchamel sauce
I am not a fan of béchamel sauce, as I think it dulls a wonderful lasagne. Thus, many years ago, I came up with this recipe that uses an alternative to béchamel/white sauce. In a bowl, I mix together using a fork ricotta, parmesan cheese and oregano, then I lather the lasagne sheets with this mix. It is such a lovely taste and it adds so much to a lasagne and makes a cheesy lasagne so much cheesier with a smooth and wonderful ricotta. I personally have never missed the béchamel sauce. Everyone I have ever served this lasagne recipe to has never complained that it was lacking a traditional béchamel/ white sauce.
Adding in the spices last
It is imperative to only add in the spices and tomato paste once the beef is a lovely brown colour. The spice and tomato paste will will change the colour of the beef slightly and you don’t want to think that the beef mince is cooked before it actually is just because you added in a sauce that dyed/ obscured the colour of the meat!
Storage
- Lasagne can be left in the fridge for up to 3-5 days and frozen for up to 2-3 months if properly stored (remember when defrosting defrost the lasagne the day before).
- To properly freeze and store in the fridge, the lasagne must be put in an air-tight container.
- Additionally, this is just guidance. So, if it looks a bit dodgy, you don’t like the look of it or if it has been out for a while, then unfortunately, I think that is one for the bin. When it comes to cooking and baking a bit of common sense will go a long way, it is always better to be safe than sorry. Additionally, when storing always use an air-tight container otherwise these times do not apply.
Thank you so much for reading my gluten free lasagne recipe. Hopefully, you’ll give it a try and get to experience what it is like to eat the food of VIPs.
Gluten Free VIPs
<3 <3 <3
xxx
