Two-tone lasagne (pics to come!)

Being Sunday, and with a little time up my sleeve, I decided to attempt my first lasagne. I hit the cookbooks and Tastespotting in search of a vegetarian lasagne that would fit the bill, but was disappointed with the samples I found. In the end, I found a great bechamel recipe in Delicious mag, and made up the rest as I went along.

The boy wasn't in the mood for a meat-free meal, so I decided that rather than doing 2 lasagnes (a bit OTT even for me) I would split the dish in half with a layer of baking paper. The bechamel (another first) smelled fantastic as it was cooking, and thankfully turned out perfect. While I prepped the rest of the veges, Neil cooked his mince. Then, from our selection of toppings, we each created our perfect lasagne.

The result was absolutely delish - especially with the sneaky glass of John Grima Cab Sav (from John's Stag Do in Nov. '06) we had on the side.

Enjoy!

Two-tone Lasagne
Bechamel
1L milk
½ onion
1 clove garlic, bruised
2 sprigs fresh thyme
100g flour
100g butter
Salt & pepper to taste
½ tsp nutmeg

800g mushrooms, sliced
800g pumpkin, cut into 2cm dice
½ onion, sliced
½ red capsicum, thinly sliced
440g tin crushed tomatoes
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
Small handful basil, chopped
Good splash of Tabasco

8-10 fresh pasta sheets
Grated cheese

Preparation:
1. For the béchamel, put milk, onion, garlic and thyme in a saucepan and heat until just below boiling. Remove from the heat and cool for 30 minutes.
2. Strain the milk to remove the infusion ingredients.
3. Clean the saucepan and, over low heat, melt butter. Add flour and stir for 3-4 minutes to cook out flour taste. Gradually whisk in milk. When all of the milk has been added, cook for 3-5 minutes until thick and smooth. Stir in salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cover tightly with baking paper to prevent a skin from forming and set aside.
4. Place pumpkin in a baking dish with a little olive oil and bake at 220 degrees C for 20 minutes or until soft. Sprinkle with a little nutmeg and mash.
5. Saute mushrooms with a little butter and set aside.
6. For the tomato sauce, combine the tomatoes, basil, garlic and Tabasco in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until reduced, then set aside.
7. Saute onions and capsicum over a low heat until soft.

To assemble:
1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Grease a large baking dish (25cm x 30cm) and layer with lasagne sheets. Spread over a layer of béchamel, then a thin layer of tomato sauce. Top with a layer of mushrooms/mince, then sprinkle with a thin layer of cheese.
3. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets, béchamel and tomato sauce, then spread a layer of pumpkin. Top with onion and capsicum and a thin layer of cheese.
4. Top with final layer of lasagne sheets and béchamel sauce, then sprinkle with cheese. Top with a little fresh thyme.
5. Cover with baking paper and foil, then bake for 1 hour. Remove foil and baking paper, then grill for 5-8 minutes, or until cheese is browned and bubbling.
6. Leave to ‘firm up’ for 10 minutes before cutting.

A Gluttonous Sunday

Today started off badly and turned out to be one of the best Sunday's I've had for a while. I was rather hungover after a night out at the football so started the day with a big bowl of my homemade muesli topped with kiwifruit. From there it was off to Primo Italiano 2007, a food festival which was part of the Sydney Italian Festival. It was really busy and a bit of an assault on my still-recovering senses, but a trip to the Beppi's stand for a plate of polenta with wild mushrooms and parmesan and a bottle of San Pellegrino Aranciata sorted me out. (Tamzin had the eggplant parmigiana which was also delish!).

Next up was a chocolate, almond and ginger filled sweet shortcrust pastry (started with s...). It was melt in the mouth heaven! Feeling more than a little stuffed, we moved on to the second part of the day's activities... rollerblading! Tamzin is a bit of a pro these days but I'm a complete novice again after many years with my feet firmly planted on the ground.

We did a couple of laps of Centennial Park and despite a few hiccups with stopping (i.e: I couldn't) I managed to finish the afternoon without stacking once. Well done me... Dinner was a rather boring affair (soup) so I decided to whip up an old family favourite - Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding. As if I needed any more food today!









Mum's Chocolate Self-Saucing Pudding
1 c flour
1 tbsp cocoa
2 tbsp melted butter
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c milk
1 tsp vanilla
Topping:
3/4 c brown sugar
2 tbsp cocoa
1 3/4 c hot water

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.
• Sift flour, baking powder, salt sugar and cocoa together into a large ovenproof dish.
• Add milk, vanilla and butter and beat until smooth.
• Sift over combined cocoa and brown sugar and gently pour over hot water.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes or until spongey.
• Serve with a dollop of organic unsweetened yoghurt.