Beef & Pumpkin Lasagna
Winter comfort to the max.
Lasagna. I think most Australian households have their own version (sorry Italy), and when I was a kid, our house was no exception. Both my mum and my nan made (still does!) the best lasagna, and it was always my brother and I's favourite thing. We'd try and get them to compete who could make the best lasagna, when really they both kinda made it the same, and both were amazing - always classic beef, always thick béchamel (made in the microwave nonetheless).
Then I was 13, I decided to turn vegetarian and for once my mum couldn't make the usual for us all. This led to an experimental age - a golden age! - of lasagna in our family, while she and my nan came up with different ways to include me in the weekly family dinner. Roast veggies replaced the beef. Then Quorn fake-beef was a thing. Sometimes there was a ricotta and spinach layer, and sometimes there was only ricotta and spinach. One time my nan crossed the Mediterranean and made moussaka instead (not sure why eggplant had to replace the pasta) and my dad almost died when faced with eating his least favourite vegetable.
And really, no matter how it was cooked or what replaced the meat, they were always delicious. They were always dripping over the edge of the baking dish, and always had a little crunchy pasta corner. The béchamel was always the thickest layer, and it was always eaten in the largest portions, with a salad to 'keep it healthy'. Heaven.
So naturally when I moved out of home at 18, lasagna was one of the go-to dishes I wanted to make. Luckily, the years of watching and helping led to me being not-too-shabby, although it definitely did put pressure on my girlfriend to be able make it too (we're married now, and she also can cook a wicked lasagna too, so obviously didn't do too bad).
It's still on heavy rotation in our household, and each time it's made it's never the same. Just like my mum and nan, with this recipe, I've decided to go left and throw some pumpkin in there. Why? Why did I do it? Really not sure, but we'll pretend it came to me in a dream. And dreamy it is. I hope you love it. Cook it, share it, nourish yourself and your loved ones with it. They'll thank you for it (and no, you don't have to cook the béchamel in the microwave).
Connor x
Beef & Pumpkin Lasagna
Serves 6 (or 4 very hungry people)
Ingredients
Beef mince 500g
1 large carrot
1 brown onion
1/2 leek
5 garlic cloves
1 can of cherry tomatoes (get the best ones you can - it's worth the extra $1)
1/2 jar of passata (again, get the best you can)
1 cup of beef stock
Basil and parsley, 1 small bunch of each, chopped
1/2 butternut squash
150g danish feta
1tsp dried rosemary
Olive oil
1 box of pasta sheets
3tbsp flour
50g butter
500ml full cream milk
100g grated cheddar
50g parmigiano reggiano
Pinch of nutmeg
Method
Preheat your oven to 180º. Finely dice your carrot, onion, leek and garlic, reserving a small portion of the onion and 1-2 garlic cloves for the pumpkin.
Peel, de-seed and cube up your butternut pumpkin, and add to a bowl with the small portion of onion and garlic. Add in the dried rosemary, salt and pepper, and drizzle over 3-4 tbsp of olive oil. Mix until the pumpkin is coated and spread evenly on an oven tray and bake for approx. 25-30 mins (cutting it smaller will help it cook MUCH quicker). You want the pumpkin soft, tender and easy to mash.
Whilst the pumpkin is cooking, put a large frying pan on medium heat and, once hot, add the remaining onion, leek and garlic with another splash of olive oil. Cook for a couple of minutes until they start to soften and add the carrot. Again, cook for a few minutes until the carrot starts to soften.
Add your beef, and break up the mince with your spoon. Brown the meat for 5-10 minutes. Don't forget to season, then add your fresh basil and parsley.
Once the beef has started to cook through, add in the canned tomatoes, passata and cup of beef stock. If you like a really tomato-y sauce, you could also add a tablespoon or two or tomato paste at this point too.
Give everything a good stir, and then cover and reduce the heat to low. Allow it to slowly cook and reduce, and this is the longer the better. You could go 30 minutes - you could go 2 hours! - and it is completely up to you. Just make sure the beef is cooked through, tender, and the sauce as reduced and thickened. If you do leave it longer. and it thickens too much, you can add a little water.
As your sauce bubbles away, make sure you remove your pumpkin out of the oven, and make your béchamel sauce.
For the béchamel, bring a medium saucepan to medium heat and melt the butter. Once melted, add the flour and whisk together, until combined into a thick paste. Allow it cook for a couple of minutes. but do not let it burn.
Add 1/4 of the milk and whisk vigorously as it thickens, making sure to whisk away any lumps. Once it starts to get too thick to stir, add another 1/4 of the milk, and continue to whisk, adding more milk and whisking until all the milk is used up. You should end up with a thick custard, slightly thicker than double cream. Turn off the heat and add the grated cheeses (reserve a little for the top of the lasagna) and nutmeg, mixing until the cheeses are melted through. Taste and season.
By this point. your pumpkin should be cool. Add it to a seperate bowl with the feta, and mash together. Here you can make it as smooth as you like. I like to leave a few bigger lumps of feta in here, but again, it's completely up to you. You're now ready to assemble your lasagna.
Grab your baking dish, and start with a thin layer of the beef sauce. This layer doesn't have to be too thick, as it's to stop the pasta sticking to the bottom of the dish.
Add a layer of pasta sheets, snapping pieces to fit - make sure you don't overlap too much, or you'll end up with thick chunky pasta layers.
Add another layer of beef sauce, thicker this time, and then another layer of pasta.
Next, add a layer of the pumpkin, and again top with a layer of pasta.
Add one more layer of beef, one more layer of pasta sheets, and then pour over your béchamel.
If you have any left over grated cheese, you can sprinkle across the top. Don't worry if you don't have any left because you got hungry and ate it. Remember, you are only human, and you have now very successfully built a beautiful beast of a dinner.
Cover your prized lasagna with aluminium foil (loosely) and place in the oven. Bake for 30-35 minutes, then remove the foil and continue to bake for another 10-15 minutes until the top is a lovely golden and brown colour.
At this point. your lasagna should of been in about 50 minutes. Gently test the centre with a knife and check your pasta is soft. If your beautiful baby is more tall and thick rather than thin and wide, it may need a little longer. Feel free to give it another 5 if it needs it.
Remove from the oven, and if you can resist, allow it to cool for a few minutes before cutting and serving (with that healthy side salad you definitely prepared).
Eat, swoon over it and try not to pass into a food coma.