Beef & Vegetable Lasagne

Winter cooking = pasta. Better yet = lasagne.

Best is that when I make lasagne there is always enough for 2 meals. It could, of course, serve 4 but there is a pandemic going on and we’re not entertaining.

As to the lasagne – everyone likes to add spinach.

Well almost everyone….

I also have put pumpkin in lasagne: Pumpkin, Leek and Ham Lasagne and Beef and Pumpkin Lasagne.

I’ve heard eggplant is good but I’ve never tried that.

But why not other vegetables?

I love lasagne, but the typical U.S. version is loaded with meat and cheeses and, sometimes, a béchamel sauce. All that can be rather filling and caloric. Adding some veggies lightens it up a bit. Or, at least, lightens the calorie load.

The trick, of course, to any vegetable addition, is to cut the pieces small enough to layer.

Then just sit back and enjoy, knowing you’re eating your vegetables like mom said.

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Beef & Vegetable Lasagne

Print Recipe

To make certain the vegetables were done I sautéed them first… Then I decided I might as well make the Béchamel right in the skillet with the vegetables to keep things easy.

• Author: Katie
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 50 minutes
• Total Time: 1 hour
• Yield: 4 servings 1x
• Category: Pasta

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• The vegetables:
• 2 carrots, peeled, chopped
• 1/2 head broccoli, about 4oz (125gr), chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6oz (175gr) mushrooms, trimmed, chopped
• 1 tbs butter
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 2 tbs flour
• 1 1/4 cups (10oz, 300gr) milk
• The beef:
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 12oz (350gr) ground beef
• 2 cups (15oz, 450gr) tomatoes, peeled, chopped, juices reserved
• 1 cup (8oz, 240gr) tomato sauce
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tbs olive oil
• The rest:
• 8oz (250gr) fresh mozzarella, sliced as thinly as possible 
• 1/4 cup (1oz, 30gr) shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup (2oz, 60gr) shredded Parmesan
• 12 – 15 sheets ‘no-cook’ lasagna noodles

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Instructions

• The vegetable sauce: 
• Heat butter and oil in a large skillet. Add carrots, onion, broccoli, mushrooms, and sauté until tender, 12 – 15 minutes. 
• Add flour and stir well. 
• Slowly add milk, stirring constantly as it thickens, until it’s all added. 
• Continue stirring until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.
• The meat sauce: 
• Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add garlic and sauté briefly. 
• Add beef and brown well, breaking it up.
• Add tomatoes, juices, sauce, paste and herbs to beef. 
• Bring to a simmer and let cook, uncovered 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
• To assemble:
• In a 10″ (25cm) square (or 11 x 9) baking dish, make the following layers:
• 1/3 of the meat / tomato sauce
• 3 noodles, you may have to break another one up to get good coverage
• 1/2 of the vegetable / Béchamel sauce
• 1/2 of the mozzarella
• 3 noodles, breaking one as needed
• 1/3 of the meat / tomato sauce
• 3 noodles, breaking another as needed
• 1/2 of the vegetable / Béchamel sauce
• 1/2 of the mozzarella
• 3 noodles, breaking one as needed
• 1/3 of the meat / tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese
• Cover and bake 425F (215C) for 25 minutes, or until noodles are done. Test in center with a sharp knife.
• Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake 5 minutes longer to brown cheese. 
• Remove and let rest for 5 minutes.
• Cut into squares (or oblongs) and serve.

Notes

My pan uses 3 noodles plus a bit of a 4th to fit. For a typical lasagne I use 13 1/2 noodles.

Almost all of France is now under curfew. No one is allowed out, without a good reason and a paper to prove it, between 9pm and 6am.

I’m assuming a valid reason would be the farmers working all night to get the crops in.

A reason that would not be valid is running out to get a pizza….. which one couldn’t do anyway because the restaurants have to close to let the workers get home and tucked in by curfew.

It’s about time…. The numbers here, like everywhere, are frightening.

I’m not certain if it’s sad or proof of our responsible behavior to say that this will elicit no changes for us.

But…. want to see our house?

You can just make it out on the hill behind the cornfield. That was as much zoom as I could do on my phone. I took this on my walk a few weeks ago. This is the one spot where I can see our house.

I do my weekly walk in a big 12.5km circle. Now I do it alone – well, me and my phone. I’ve started listening to books and I have to say it really makes the time fly (almost).

I get some rather strange looks, though. I don’t use earbuds. I just put the phone in my pocket with the volume up.