Mary Berry Vegetarian Lasagna Food

VEGGIE LASAGNE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Put the peppers, courgette and sweet potato into a large baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil, season with salt and pepper and toss together.
• Roast for 30 minutes, or until softened and lightly browned.
• While the vegetables are roasting, heat the remaining oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
• Add the chilli and garlic and cook for a few seconds more. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning (or dried oregano) and crumbled stock cube. Pour over the water and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring regularly. Set aside.
• For the cheese sauce, put the flour, butter and milk in a large saucepan and place over a medium heat. Whisk constantly with a large metal whisk until the sauce is thickened and smooth. (Use a silicone covered whisk if cooking in a non-stick pan.) Stir in roughly two-thirds of the cheeses and season to taste.
• Take the vegetables out of the oven and add to the pan with the tomato sauce. Stir in the spinach and cook together for 3 minutes. Season with salt and lots of ground black pepper.
• Spoon a third of the vegetable mixture over the base of a 2½ -3 litre/4½-5¼ pint ovenproof lasagne dish and cover with a single layer of lasagne. Top with another third of the vegetable mixture (don't worry if it doesn't cover evenly) and a second layer of lasagne.
• Pour over just under half of the cheese sauce and very gently top with the remaining vegetable mixture. Finish with a final layer of lasagne and the rest of the cheese sauce. Sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top.
• Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the pasta has softened and the topping is golden brown and bubbling. Stand for 5 minutes before cutting to allow the filling to settle.

MARY BERRY'S RED PEPPER, MUSHROOM & LEEK LASAGNE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/Gas 7. You will need a 3-litre (5-pint), ovenproof dish. To make the tomato and vegetable sauce, heat the oil in a frying pan. Add the leeks and fry for 3 minutes, then add the peppers and fry for 5 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper. Measure the flour into a bowl. Mix with half a tin of chopped tomatoes and stir until smooth. Add the remaining tomatoes to the vegetables in the pan, followed by the purée and sugar and then the flour mixture. Bring to the boil, stirring until thickened, then add the mushrooms and boil for a couple of minutes, stirring. Add the basil and vinegar and check the seasoning. To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and whisk over the heat for a minute. Gradually blend in the milk and whisk until bubbling and smooth. Add the mustard, three-quarters of the cheese and season with salt and pepper. Spoon a third of the vegetable sauce into the base of the dish. Spoon over a third of the cheese sauce and sprinkle with a third of the remaining cheese. Lay three sheets of lasagne on top (break the lasagne so they fit neatly without overlapping). Continue with the remaining layers to give 2 layers of pasta and three layers of sauce and finish with the remaining cheese on top. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes until bubbling and golden brown. The lasagne can be made completely up to 24 hours ahead. If using an Aga, bake on the second set of runners in the roasting oven for 35 minutes. Please note: if you would like this recipe to be vegetarian, use a rennet-free Cheddar substitute.

MARY'S LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the noodles. Put a bowl of ice water near the stove, and set out a few towels next to the bowl to drain the pasta.
• Generously grease a 10 by 14-inch baking pan using 1 to 2 tablespoons of the butter. Set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix the ricotta, egg, and parsley together. Rip up the basil leaves and fold them into the ricotta mixture. Season with salt and set aside.
• With a slotted spoon, transfer the pieces of pork, sausage, and meatballs from the Sunday Gravy to a separate bowl. They will be coated with some of the tomato gravy. That's okay. Set the remaining gravy and bowl of meats aside.
• Generously salt the boiling water and cook the lasagne sheets, a few at a time, at a rolling boil for 1 minute. The noodles will be very firm; they will cook further in the oven. Transfer the pasta to the ice water with a long-handled flat skimmer or strainer. As soon as they are cool to the touch- less than a minute- lift them out, shaking off excess water, and lay the noodles out on towels to drain. Repeat the process until all the pasta is cooked.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Cover the bottom of the baking pan with a layer of lasagne sheets, allowing the pasta to hang over all sides of the pan. Top with another layer of lasagne sheets cut to fit the bottom of the pan without an overhang.
• Cover the pasta with 1/2 of the reserved meats. Spoon over enough gravy to moisten well, about 1 cup. Sprinkle with a rounded 1/4 cup Pecorino Romano. Cover with another layer of pasta cut to fit without an overhang. Top with 1 cup gravy. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the gravy and top with half of the mozzarella and a rounded 1/4 cup of Pecorino Romano. Repeat the pasta and meat layer and the pasta and ricotta mixture layer.
• Cover with a final layer of pasta (you may not have used all the lasagne sheets) cut to fit the inside of the pan without an overhang. Top with the remaining gravy and Pecorino Romano. Bring up the overhang of pasta and fold over the top of the lasagne to enclose the filling. Dot with remaining butter and loosely cover with foil.
• Bake the lasagne for 25 minutes, uncover, and continue to bake until very lightly browned and bubbling hot, an additional 10 to 15 minutes. To keep the top noodles soft without browning, bake the lasagne covered with foil for 35 minutes and uncovered for the last 5 to 10 minutes in the oven. Let cool for 5 minutes before serving.
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot. Add the pork chops and sausages and brown on all sides. Transfer the pork chops and sausages to a plate to make room for the onions. Toss the onions into the pot with the garlic, fennel, and salt. Saute over moderate heat, stirring frequently and scraping up any bits left behind by the pork and sausages, until the onions are soft and golden.
• Put the pork chops and sausages back in the pot with any juices on the plate. Add the tomatoes, water, and tomato paste. Drop in a few cheese rinds or ends if you have any. They are completely optional but give a nice flavor to the sauce. Cover the pot, bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Gently drop in the meatballs, 1 at a time, shaking the pot a bit to encourage the meatballs to nestle in with the pork and sausage and to make room for the addition of more meatballs. After all the meatballs have been added, continue to simmer, covered, for an hour longer or until the pork chops are very tender.
• To finish the gravy, transfer the pork chops to a cutting board. Remove and discard the bones, chop up the meat, and return it to the sauce. Keep warm over low heat.
• Homemade, fresh pasta is glorious and well worth the effort. Nothing compares to the silky, light, slippery noodles you can produce in your own kitchen. This is a quick recipe. The dough is mixed in a food processor and a pasta machine kneads and rolls the dough. George's whips this up easily, in 5 minutes tops.
• There are minor variations depending on the weather and the moisture in your flour (you may have to knead in an extra tablespoon or 2 of flour) but if you follow these proportions you will have excellent pasta.
• The organic eggs we buy at the farmers' market vary in size. The most reliable way to get an accurate measurement is with a portion scale. The measuring cup method will work, too (crack eggs into a small mixing bowl, whisk to combine, pour the required amount into a liquid measuring cup, and discard or save any excess for another use). In making pasta, skill is developed through repetition. Each batch will be easier than the last and with a little experience exact measurements will be less important.
• Don't fret if the final dimensions of the pasta are different from those specified in the recipe. The strips coming through the rollers of the pasta machine may be longer and/or not as wide. The ends may also narrow rather than being perfectly square. For instance, the edge going through the rollers first will be u-shaped (they can be cut later to square the noodle, if you like). Practice does make a difference in developing a feel for the process. Try to roll the dough as wide as possible--a little less than the width of the rollers, but don't be discouraged if that doesn't happen the first time. Adjust the cutting of the pasta to the strips you have--less wide sheets of lasagna noodles, for instance.
• Put the flour in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade. With the motor running pour the eggs through the feed tube. Stop the machine as soon as the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Run the motor again pouring the hot water through the feed tube. Pulse on and off for 10 seconds; stop the motor. The dough should stick together when pressed between your fingertips. If not add another 1/2 to 1 teaspoon hot water and run the motor again. Turn out onto a cool, smooth surface--marble is ideal. Knead for 1 to 2 minutes until the dough is smooth and pliable. If it is sticky, knead in 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Shape into a ball and cover the dough completely with plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for a minimum of 20 minutes or up to 2 hours in the refrigerator. If the dough is refrigerated, remove it from the refrigerator about 20 minutes before proceeding with the recipe.
• Set up the pasta machine with the rollers at their widest opening.
• Divide the dough in 1/2. If the dough is sticky, dust it with flour. Flatten the dough half with the heel of your hand, and feed it through the rollers of pasta machine. Fold the dough in half lengthwise and feed it through the rollers again. Repeat 20 to 30 times occasionally folding widthwise to fit between the guides. This kneads and smoothes the dough further, creating silky and supple pasta.
• Now you can roll the pasta into thin sheets by feeding it through each successive setting of the pasta machine until you have passed it through the second thinnest opening (dust with just enough flour as necessary to keep the dough from sticking). This process is done without folding. If the sheet of pasta becomes cumbersomely long cut it crosswise into 2 pieces to make it more manageable. Repeat with the second half of the dough. Lay the dough out on a barely floured counter or clean, dry kitchen towels. Each half of dough will yield 2 strips of pasta roughly measuring 3 feet by 4 inches.
• Try to make lasagna noodles as wide as your pasta machine allows (4 to 5-inches); cut the lengths the most appropriate size for the pan you plan to use--anywhere from 8 to 12-inches long (longer if you like, or shorter if smaller noodles are easier for you to handle. Lasagna noodles can be cut and patched together in assembly). Keep in mind the pasta will grow, or expand, when it boils, increasing its dimensions.
• After you have cut the noodles, you can cook them right away or lay them out in a single layer without touching on a lightly floured surface or on clean, dry kitchen towels until ready to cook (flour dusted or towel lined baking trays work well if you don't have counter) If you are not using the pasta the same day, allow it to dry completely, then transfer to long, shallow containers with lids. You can keep it in a cool, dry place for 1 week.

MARY BERRY EXPRESS LASAGNE V 2.0

Steps:

• Fry sausage meat in a large non-stick pan until turning golden-brown. While frying, break bigger clumps into smaller pieces.
• Add mushrooms, chilli, garlic and fry for 5 minutes.
• Stir in the spinach and creme fraiche, and season with salt and pepper. Let it cook for 2 - 3 minutes. Set aside.
• Mix all ingredients for the tomato sauce (passata, tomato paste, sugar and herbs) in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
• Assemble the dish by making 3 lasagne layers with sausage filling and tomato sauce in between; start with covering the bottom of the dish with one-quarter of tomato sauce.
• Lay 3 sheets of lasagne over the sauce, cover them with the second quarter of tomato sauce. Spread the sauce gently over the dried sheets with a spoon. Scatter one-third of sausage/spinach filling over the top.
• Repeat the process creating two more lasagne layers.
• Sprinkle the grated cheddar cheese over the top.
• Bake for 25 - 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• A potato masher (plastic doesn't scratch the pan's surface) can help break bigger clumps of meat into smaller pieces.
• When substituting fresh spinach for frozen spinach, drain the excess water away once the spinach is thawed and chop the leaves.
• If the meat filling seems a bit dry, add more creme fraiche to it.
• Ideally, the 3 sheets in each layer should fit the dish surface without too much overlapping. If needed, snap the corners of the lasagne sheets to fit your dish.
• Barilla dry lasagne sheets or fresh lasagne are best in this recipe. Other (dried) lasagne might require pre-cooking and can stay hard in places.