Lighter lasagne with aubergine pasta
This low-carb alternative to lasagne is lower in calories but packed with flavour
- 1 hour 30 minutes
- Serves 6
- 2.5 of 5 a day
- Kcal258
- Fat6.7g
- Salt0.5g
- Sugar11g
Recipe by: Sarah Drabble
| Nutritionist
Ingredients
- 1 aubergine (about 350g), trimmed, then cut lengthways into ½cm slices
- Light cooking oil spray
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 stick celery, finely sliced
- 1–2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, finely diced
- 250g beef mince, 5% fat
- 250g turkey mince, 2% fat
- ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- 1 reduced-salt beef stock cube, crumbled
- 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato purée
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- Small handful fresh basil leaves
- 270ml skimmed milk
- 1 tablespoon cornflour, mixed into a smooth paste with 2 tablespoons skimmed milk
- 80g half-fat mature Cheddar cheese, grated
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
Method
- Cook the aubergine in a microwave for 3–4 minutes, depending on how powerful your microwave is. Alternatively, preheat the grill to high, place the aubergine on baking trays under the grill and cook for 3–4 minutes on each side. This may need to done in batches. Set aside until needed.
- Coat a large non-stick saucepan in cooking spray and warm over a medium heat. Add the onion and celery, and cook for 2 minutes. Then add the garlic, carrot and both types of mince, and cook for 4–5 minutes, stirring regularly to break up the mince, until the mince is browned.
- Sprinkle over the paprika and the crumbled stock cube. Then add the chopped tomatoes and tomato purée, and mix thoroughly. Bring to the boil, then reduce the temperature and simmer for about 30 minutes, or until thickened. Once cooked, remove from the heat and stir through the herbs.
- Meanwhile, to make the béchamel sauce, pour the milk into a saucepan and heat until almost boiling. Add the cornflour and milk paste and stir continuously until the milk thickens into a sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in 20g of the cheese and the nutmeg.
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC/Fan 180ºC. To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the mince mixture into an ovenproof dish, then add a layer of aubergine slices and cover with a layer of béchamel sauce. Repeat until you’ve used up all of the mince – ending with a layer of béchamel sauce.
- Sprinkle over the rest of the cheese, to evenly cover the top. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, until golden brown.
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