Written by Sophie
I made this for a girly dinner party and it went down well! Low carb and less calorific than usual lasagne, as well as being gluten free and fitting in with the paleo diet. It’s really easy to make as well, and doesn’t take too long, plus if you’re making it for friends then you can prepare it in advance so you’re not stuck in the kitchen when they arrive.
Ingredients (serves 6):
For the meat sauce:
- 500g lean beef mince (organic if possible)
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 and a ½ large onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 700g Passata
- 2 heaped tbsps tomato paste (sundried tomato paste if possible)
- 4 tbsp/0.25 cup red wine
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional – I add it because it’s so good for you and this amount just gives it a little kick but not too noticeable)
For the topping:
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 medium courgettes
- 250g ricotta
- ¼ cup (25g) grated Parmesan
cheese - 1 large egg
- 250g mozzarella cheese
Directions:
If you’re making the lasagna and cooking it right away, then pre-heat the oven to 180°c.
Start by making the mince. Heat the oil in a large wok or deep frying pan and once it’s hot, fry the onion, garlic and the herbs until the onion softens up.
Mix in the mince and keep stirring through so that it browns and then mix in the passata, red wine and tomato paste with the cayenne pepper and some salt and pepper. Leave to simmer whilst you prepare the courgette and sauce.
Thinly slice the courgette into flat ribbons which are about 3mm thick:
In order to stop the courgettes letting out too much moisture when they’re in the lasagne it’s best to grill them slightly before hand…you can do this under a grill or just in a dry griddle pan:
Make sure the mozzarella is completely shredded and beat the egg into the ricotta with 2/3 of the parmesan like this:
Pour and level out half of the mince into a pan and layer over half of the courgettes so that there are no gaps:
Then layer on about half of the ricotta mix and a third of the mozzarella
Repeat this with the second layer, but use the remaining mozzarella, sprinkle a bit of the parmesan and season with salt and pepper.
Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, although a little longer if you refrigerate in between preparing and cooking….and you end up with this.
Would recommend cutting the portions with a knife before serving as they’re not as easy to cut through with a spatula as lasagne pasta sheets are.
Squirrel Sisters 
This looks delicious! I love your blog… lots of delicious things which I’ll definitely try out. I’ve got a food blog too which is a mix of healthy and ummm not so healthy (but delicious). Love to hear what you think http://www.meekgonewild.com
Claudia
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Thanks so much Claudia – what a lovely message 🙂 We will definitely check out your blog too….sounds really good.
Sophie and Gracie xxx
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