Beef and Broccoli Lasagne

Category: Main Dishes | Blog URL: http://thyme2.typepad.com/thyme_for_cooking_/2010/02/beef-and-broccoli-lasagne.html

This recipe was entered in The Foodista Best of Food Blogs Cookbook contest, a compilation of the world’s best food blogs which was published in Fall 2010.

Photo: Katie Lerum Zeller

Ingredients

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

1/2 small head broccoli, cut into pieces

1 onion, chopped

6 ounces mushrooms, trimmed and chopped

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

1 1/4 cups milk

2 cloves garlic, minced

12 ounces ground beef

2 cups (15oz) whole tomatoes, chopped, juices reserved

1 cup tomato sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried basil

8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan

15 sheets 'no-cook' lasagna noodles

Preparation

Heat butter and 1 tbs oil in a large skillet. Add carrots, broccoli, onions, and mushrooms; sauté until tender, 12 - 15 minutes.

Add flour and stir well for 1 minute.

Slowly add milk, stirring constantly as it thickens, until it is all added. Continue stirring until it just starts to simmer. Remove from heat.

Heat 1 tbs oil in another large skillet. Add garlic and sauté briefly.

Add beef and brown well, breaking it up.

Add tomatoes, juices, tomato sauce, tomato paste and herbs to beef. Bring to a simmer and let cook, uncovered, 5 minutes.

Make the following layers in baking dish:

1/3 of the meat / tomato sauce; 3 - 4 noodles to fit

1/2 of the vegetable / Béchamel sauce; 1/2 of the mozzarella; 3 - 4 noodles to fit

1/3 of the meat / tomato sauce; 3 - 4 noodles to fit

1/2 of the vegetable / Béchamel sauce; 1/2 of the mozzarella; 3 - 4 noodles to fit

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.

Uncover, sprinkle with Parmesan and bake 5 minutes longer to brown cheese.

Remove and let rest for 5 minutes. Cut into squares and serve.

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About

We decided to move to Andorra while we were living in Ireland.

So, naturally, we immediately started Spanish language lessons.

Our teacher was a young woman from Valencia (pronounced ba-LEN-thia) who had followed her Irish boyfriend home from a holiday.

The thing that amazed her most about Ireland was that there were no fruit bowls on counters in Irish kitchens.

Seemed perfectly normal to me. I didn't grow up with a fruit bowl on the counter either.

In Spain a kitchen is not complete without an overflowing fruit bowl for family and guests to enjoy.

Now I have 2 or 3, depending on the season.

In winter, I fill the big, hand-painted bowl from Spain with oranges, Clementine's, bananas and avocados. The kiwi fruit go in a separate basket - they cause the citrus to rot.

In summer I fill 3 or more bowls with peaches, plums, nectarines, cherries, grapes and tomatoes.

I fill them at least once a week. Because they are there, on the counter, in full view, the fruit gets eaten.

Next to them, in a big basket, I keep walnuts, hazelnuts and almonds in the shell.

They're great to snack on when you're just looking for a bit of crunch.... And the fact that you have to crack the nut first, then pick out the meat before you eat it is a great deterrent to eating too many.

Our snack foods are fruits and nuts.

We don't bother with the other kind....

Lots of people put spinach or courgette or aubergine (eggplant) in their lasagne....

I had to be different.

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. Always with an eye to the easy.....