Lazy Lasagna

The reason I call this "lazy" Lasagna is because its a quick way of cheating through it, and not taking the time to prepare it carefully and properly. In fact it could just be called Pasta Dish, but the mixture of white cheese sauce and rich tomato sauce give all the tastes of a delicious lasagna.

See I can make a mean lasagna, if I do say so myself (I'll post the recipe one day and you can judge for yourself), but today I didn't have the time OR all the right ingredients to do it properly, so I made shortcuts and improvised with what I had.

It was pretty yummers...
(though nothing beats a perfectly layered lasagna, with ALL the ingredients)


Ingredients:
2 C Pasta. I used bow-ties, and although I'd try to avoid macaroni, pretty much anything else works.
1 C grated cheese for topping

For the white sauce:
1/3 C Melted butter
1/4 C White flour
1/4 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Asafotedia (hing)
2 1/2 C Warm Milk (I used coconut which was a delicious twist!)
2 Tbsp grated cheese (optional)

For the tomato sauce
2 Tbsp Butter or oil
1/4 C Chopped capsicum
1/4 C Chopped eggplant
1/4 C Chopped zuchinni
1 C Chopped tomatoes (canned also works)
1/3 C Tomato paste
1/3 C Water
3 tsp Sugar
1 tsp Dried oregano
1 tsp Dried or fresh basil
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground black pepper
1/4 C Black olives

To Make:
Cook the pasta in a pot of boiling water. While its cooking, make the white sauce and tomato sauce.

The white sauce
1. Pour the milk in a small pot and put on a low heat. While the milk is heating, in a separate pot, melt the butter in a medium pot also on a low heat.

2. When melted, turn the heat to high and add the nutmeg and hing. After a few seconds, add the flour and stir quickly, so as not to burn the flour. Constantly stir the flour for approx 3-4 minutes, until the flour begins to emit an aromatic smell and tans slightly.

3. Take off the heat. Pour the milk into the flour/butter pot, all the while whisking so as not to accumulate lumps.

4. Once it is fully mixed, put back onto a low heat and continue to whisk until the sauce starts to thicken. Add the grated cheese and salt and take off the element. Put aside for assembly.

Tomato Sauce
1. Heat the oil in a medium pot over a medium flame. Add the hing and after a few seconds add the capsicum, eggplant and zuchinni. Stir to cover all veges with oil.

2. When the vegetables begin to stick to the bottom of the pan and have browned a little, add the chopped tomatoes and stir to combine everything.

3. Let the tomatoes cook right down to a pulp (approx 10 minutes) and then add the tomato paste and water.

4. Finally, add the herbs, sugar, salt, pepper and olives. Take off the flame.

To assemble:
By this time the pasta should be cooked el dante. Drain the water out.

1. Pour enough tomato sauce into a deep tray, enough to cover the base of the pan.

2. Place a layer of pasta in the pan, enough to cover the tomato sauce. Do not pat down to flatten, just drop the pasta in and leave no gaps.

3. Pour in the white sauce over the pasta, enough to cover it all. It may help to use the ladel or a wooden spoon to spread the sauce evenly over the pasta.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 until you have used up all three dishes, however be sure that the white sauce is the last layer.

5. Sprinkle over a generous amount of cheese over the top layer of white sauce and bake in the oven at 150 degrees Celcius for approx 15-20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the top is slightly browned.

My own made
up recipe