Saturday, November 21, 2009

English Lasagna :: gluten free and low lactose

Never heard of English lasagna? Me either...until just over a year ago. Grandma Doogie (as in our kids Grandma Doogie) passed this one along to me. She's made it for years and says that she now doesn't make any other kind. I didn't even have to follow her around like a little puppy to scratch down the recipe as she cooked this time (unlike when she made her tasty ribs). She had it written down!

Here's the low down:

This dish looks like a regular ol' Italian lasagna but has less tomatoey sauce and no ricotta--less cheese overall. It has a bechamel sauce instead of the regular cheese mixture. It can be made gluten free and with lower lactose if you substitute the noodles for gluten free noodles; use gluten-free flour and coconut milk for the bechamel sauce instead of the cheese and egg mixture.
All I can say is that my husband and kids prefer this lasagna over the standard Italian version. So, try it sometime and let me know what you think.

Sorry, no picture...yet.

Meat Sauce:
1 pould lean ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped medium onion
1 TBSP minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine
2 TBSP tomato paste
2 TBSP chopped fresh parsley
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
1 (15 oz) can crushed tomatoes in puree

Bechamel Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
(I use ~1/8 c. rice flour & equal parts potato & tapioca starch for the other 1/8 c.)
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
(I use a can of coconut milk and add enough water to = 3 cups. Almost a 1:1 ratio)

12 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles
(I use uncooked gluten-free noodles--usually penne)
3 cups shredded aged Cheddar cheese