Beetroot Ragu Lasagna

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Oct 30, 2024 | 1 comment

What do I need to make beetroot ragu lasagna

For 4 servings

Ragu Layer

2 tblsp butter
1 onion a large one, finely chopped
2 packs beetroot 250g packs
2 clementines or an orange
2 tsp garlic granules
1 tsp grainy mustard heaped spoon
salt & pepper

Bechamel Layer

50 g butter Asda
50 g flour value
500 ml milk
0.5 tsp nutmeg fresh, grated – optional
2 bay leaves, optional

Pasta

100 g flour value
or 4 lasagna sheets

Topping

80 g cheddar

How do I make beetroot ragu lasagna

To Make The Ragu Layer

The pack of beetroot I had was 250g, Asda ones are 300g. You could either just use the whole pack, or use the extra in a salad

Melt the butter in a pan and saute the onion until cooked through.
Put the beetroot in a bowl and mash them up, or chop finely on a chopping board.
Add the cooked onion, garlic and mustard.
Zest the orange or clementine into the bowl.
Then peel and chop the flesh finely.
Mix into the beetroot mix.
Season well

To Make Bechamel

For the bechamel layer, melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the flour and stir around to mix and cook a little. Now add half a cup of the milk and stir continuously until the milk is absorbed. I like to use a small whisk for this. Repeat until all the milk has been used. Infuse with a bay leaf or two if you have any
To make the dish vegan, use plant milk, a vegan spread, a vegan cheese and either make pasta sheets or use a vegan version
Simmer very gently for around half an hour with the lid on. This prolonged cooking time really does improve the flavour, but if you don’t have the time, go straight to the next step
Add a little grated nutmeg right at the end if you have any. Season well with salt and pepper, taste and adjust. Use a little spoon of mustard as well if you like. All the seasonings are added at the end of the cooking time as the heat of the cooking reduces their flavour. We still have to cook it in the oven of course.

To Make Pasta

If you want to make pasta, for cheapness, or to make the dish vegan –
for 2, put 50g flour in a bowl and add enough cold water to make a pastry like dough.
For 4, use 100g flour.
Knead a little, or just leave in the bowl for a couple of hours and the gluten will develop.
Divide into 3.
Roll out each third to the thickness of a credit card and approximately the shape of your dish.

Or just use value pasta sheets.

Now layer up your lasagna in an ovenproof dish
Divide your beetroot ragu into 3 sections in the saucepan. Divide the bechamel into 4 sections in the saucepan. Divide the cheddar into 4.
Layer one
- Ragu
- Bechamel
- sprinkle with cheddar
- Pasta or lasagna sheets

Layer two

- repeat
- Ragu
- Bechamel
- sprinkle with cheddar
- Pasta or lasagna sheets

Layer three
- repeat
- Ragu
- Bechamel
- sprinkle with cheddar
- Pasta or lasagna sheets

Now top it all off with the last layer of bechamel. Sprinkle with the last cheddar
Bake at 180c for about half an hour until golden and bubbling.

Verdict

Absolutely delicious! Serve with a bit of salad, garlic bread or cooked vegetables. I asked my husband if he could identify the mystery ingredient (the orange) and he couldn’t. If you know it’s there, you can taste it, but it really acts like a seasoning and adds another layer of flavour.

I added a few crushed walnuts to our salad as walnuts are another classic flavour combination with beetroot

Variations on beetroot ragu lasagna

Use plant milk, a vegan spread and a vegan cheese for vegans, or just leave out the cheese part. If you can’t find lasagna sheets without egg, and you want to make this vegan, you could try making pasta, it’s really not very difficult.

I’ve found that this can be used as a basic recipe for lasagna, just changing the ragu layer for all sorts of other things. I’ve done a lentil one, a mushroom one, this beetroot one, and a falafel layer one will be next!

I looked up what flavours go well with beetroot and decided to use orange. You could use an apple instead. Or just beetroot without anything else.

You could use horseradish rather than mustard too.