Ingredients

The following ingredients have 4 Servings
  • 4 large baking potatoes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 500 g minced beef (ground mince)
  • 1 large onion (peeled and diced)
  • 2 fat cloves of garlic (peeled and minced)
  • 120 ml red wine
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree/paste
  • 1-2 tsp light brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 3 x 400g/14oz tins chopped tomatoes
  • 4 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 6 tbsp plain/all purpose flour
  • 720 ml milk
  • pinch of salt and pepper
  • 50 g grated mature cheddar cheese
  • 250 g pack of fresh lasagne sheets
  • 150 g grated mature cheddar cheese
  • 100 g grated mozzarella cheese
  • Freshly chopped parsley
  • Black pepper
  • 1/2 red onion (peeled and thinly sliced)
  • 10 cherry tomatoes (chopped in half)
  • Toasted flatbreads (if you want 3 carbs!!)

Instruction

  • Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Prick the baking potatoes with a fork, and bake in the oven for one hour. Once cooked through, remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes.
  • Meanwhile, start making the meat sauce. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the minced beef and brown all over, then add the onions and garlic, and cook, stirring regularly for about 5 minutes, until the onion softens.
  • Pour in the red wine and turn up the heat to high. Let it bubble and reduce for 5 minutes.
  • Add in the tomato puree, 1 tsp of the sugar, the salt, pepper, oregano and thyme. Stir together and then pour in the tinned tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Have a taste and add the other teaspoon of sugar if the tomatoes are too acidic. Once cooked, turn off the heat.
  • Whilst the meat sauce is simmering, make the white sauce.
  • Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat. Add in the flour, and stir with a whisk for one minute until you get a thick paste. Add in the milk, a splash at a time, stirring with the whisk after each addition, until combined. The mixture will be lumpy after each addition, but will smooth out and thicken as you stir with the whisk. Once the mixture is a smooth liquid, add in the rest of the milk and continue to stir until the sauce thickens and is almost at boiling point. Turn off the heat and stir in the salt, pepper and cheddar cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
  • Once your potatoes have cooked and cooled slightly, slice them in half and scoop out the potato with a spoon (save this potato for another recipe - such as croquettes).
  • Take a couple of lasagne sheets, and cut out 16 circles that are the same circumference as the potato skins.
  • Place the potato skins on a baking tray and add 1 tbsp of the meat sauce to each. Top with a lasagne sheet circle and spoon on a tbsp of the white sauce. Repeat the layers again, then top with quarter of the cheddar cheese and quarter of the mozzarella. Place the tray in the oven (still at 200C/400F) and cook for 20 minutes until the cheese is golden brown.
  • Whilst the potato skins are cooking, make up a lasagne using the remaining ingredients. Take a four-person lasagna dish and spoon a layer of meat in the bottom. Top with a layer of lasagne sheets, followed by a layer of white sauce. Repeat, so you have two layers. Top with the remaining cheese, then cool, cover and refrigerate or freeze* for a future dinner**.
  • Once the potato skins are ready, remove from the oven. Sprinkle over the parsley, black pepper, red onion and cherry tomatoes, then serve (with flatbreads if you like!!)