Buttermilk Lasagna

I had a glitch with my online shopping today.  The result?  I had to be very resourceful with what I had in the fridge, freezer and cupboard when it came to making dinner tonight!

I always buy my groceries online.  Not because I’m too lazy to go shopping or because I’m short on time.  I do it because it curbs the spending and stops me from buying snacks and making impulse buys.  But then there are days, like today, when things do go to plan.  I’ve ordered everything last night for a delivery today, but somehow or another something went wrong on the website and I couldn’t check out!  Bummer! Now I have to make do with scrambling through the freezer and putting together a meal for two.  This is easier said than done as we really try to minimise waste in our home and therefore I might be hard pressed to find anything decent!

In the end I decided a lasagna can carry a variety of weird ingredients without raising the suspicion.  I’ve never used buttermilk for anything other than Katsu curry and since I didn’t had enough milk in the fridge a new idea was born…

 

Béchamel sauce

2 heaped tbsp	Butter
2 heaped tbsp	Plain flour
1 pinch	Sea salt
1 pinch	Nutmeg
1.5 cups	Milk
1 cup	Buttermilk

Meat sauce

250 g	Beef mince
1	Red onion, chopped
1	White onion, chopped
1	Vegetable stock pot
2 cloves	Garlic, chopped
1/2 cup	Red wine
1 pinch	Cinnamon
1 pinch	Sea salt
1 tin	Plum tomatoes
1/2 cup	Frozen peas
1/2 cup	Frozen corn

 

 For assembly

8 sheets	Lasagna
1/4 cup	cheddar cheese, grated

Pre-heat the oven to 200°C.

 

For the Béchamel sauce

1. Melt the butter over a slow heat.
2. Take the butter off the heat and stir in the flour.
3. Whilst off the heat whisk in the milk and add the salt and nutmeg.
4. Put back on a low heat and stir until the sauce has thickened.
5. Once thickened, take off the heat and stir in the buttermilk.  (If you do this too soon, you risk curdling the sauce.)

For the Meat sauce

1. Brown the mince.
2. Add the onion and cook until soft and translucent.
3. Next add in the garlic, cinnamon and sea salt and stir until well-combined.
4. Add the stock pot, wine, plum tomatoes and 100 ml of water.  Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes or until rich and meaty.
5. Add in the corn and peas, stir and simmer for another 10 minutes until cooked through.

To combine

1. Grease a 20cm by 20cm ovenproof dish and spoon a very thin layer of meat sauce at the bottom of the dish.
2. Place a single layer of lasagna sheets on top of the meat sauce and continue the pattern until you end with a layer of lasagna sheets.
3. Pour half of the béchamel sauce over and place another single layer of lasagna sheets down before pouring the rest of the sauce over and topping the dish with the grated cheese.
4. Place in the pre-heated oven and bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is bubbling and the pasta is soft and cooked-through.
5. Once the lasagna comes out of the oven, let it rest for 5-10 minutes to allow the sauce to firm up a bit (I didn’t… What a royal mess!!)

 

Serve the lasagna with garlic bread and a green salad.

---

Would you like to find some more pasta recipes?