beetroot ragu lasagna

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5 from 1 vote

vegetable ragu lasagna with an unexpected twist

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Simmer bechamel, can be omitted30

Total Time1 20

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Diet: Nut Free, Vegetarian

Other: Freezes Well

Servings: people

Calories: 472kcal

Author: Thrifty Lesley

Cost: 58p a serving

Equipment

saucepan
small whisk
or
large mixing spoon
mixing bowl
rolling pin
oven proof dish
small sharp knife
chopping board

Ingredients

Ragu Layer

2 tblsp butter £1.45/250g, 17p
1 onion a large one, finely chopped, 75p/kg, 8p
2 packs beetroot 250g packs, 65p each, £1.08
2 clementines or an orange, 30p
2 tsp garlic granules £1.09/115g, 10p
1 tsp grainy mustard heaped spoon, 3p
salt & pepper

Bechamel Layer

50 g butter Asda £1.45/250g, 29p
50 g flour value, 45p/1.5kg
500 ml milk £1.09/2.27litres, 24p
0.5 tsp nutmeg fresh, grated - optional
2 bay leaves optional

Pasta

100 g flour value, 45p/1.5kg, 3p
or 4 lasagna sheets

Topping

80 g cheddar £3.69/825g, 36p

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

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
click here to start a 30 minute timer
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.

Layer Up Your Lasagna

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.
click here to start a 30 minute timer

Notes

Priced at Asda, 30Oct24

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.

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

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.

Nutrition