Beef, Mushroom and Kale Lasagna

My husband Will is all about bucket lists at the moment. He has a very elaborate one which is up to 43 and counting (compared with my uninspired 15 which he constantly reminds me about). I must admit, he does have some great ideas, including eating at some michelin starred restaurants,travelling the world and participating in a variety of eating contests. It also includes doing a mid-winter swim (his, not mine). So when he saw in the paper that there was one on this Sunday there was no stopping him.

He tried a number of times to convince me (and even baby George) to participate, but well, its not on my bucket list and…I’m getting a cold (cough, cough) and… someone will need to look after baby George and… I guess you could say I’m a big whimp when it comes to the cold. So to put a long story short, Will did his swim, number 42 is crossed off and now he is sick with a cold.

I thought it would be a nice treat for him to make him a yummy treat to warm him up after his swim and pasta is his favourite meal. This lasagna recipe is so easy, everyone loves it and apart from the cheese sauce is actually pretty healthy. Kale is trendy at the moment and with good reason, its packed with nutrients, versatile and delicious. Its now available in most supermarkets but if you can’t find any just substitute with any leafy green. The meat sauce recipe doubles really well so I like to make extra to either freeze as is, make extra lasagnas for the freezer or friends, or use as a bolognese-style pasta sauce. It also only uses three dishes so is very friendly for my little kitchen.

Enjoy! xo Kate

If you make this, I would love to see! Tag your photo with #mylittlelarder on Instagram or Facebook.

5 from 1 vote

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Beef, Mushroom and Kale Lasagna

Prep Time 1 hour

Cook Time 50 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 50 minutes

Servings 6 -8

Author My Little Larder

Ingredients

Meat Sauce

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot finely chopped
• 1 rib celery finely chopped (See note 1)
• 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
• 500 g /1lb beef mince (ground beef)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (400g/14oz)
• 1 jar tomato passata (400g/14oz)
• 150 g /5oz brown mushrooms, sliced
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1/2 Tbsp dried sweet basil
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes optional
• 1 tsp fennel seeds optional
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper to taste

Cheese Sauce (See note 2)

• 2 Tbsp butter
• 3 Tbsp flour
• 2 cups cold milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• pinch nutmeg
• 1 cup cheese, grated (Colby, Edam, mozzarella or anything that melts well)

Assembly

• 6 lasagne sheets
• 300 g /10oz fresh curly kale, stalks removed and roughly chopped
• 1 cup cheese, grated (Colby, Edam, mozzarella or anything that melts well)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F).
2. In a medium frying pan heat oil then sauté onion, carrot and celery until soft, approximately 8-10 min, on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for a further 2 min.
3. Increase temperature to medium-high heat and brown beef mince, approximately 5-10 min. Add tomato paste and cook for 1-2 min. Deglaze the pan with the wine then add the stock, tomatoes, passata, mushrooms, herbs and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 20-40 min on a medium-low heat. You need to cook the sauce until its consistency has thickened and is no longer watery.
4. While the meat sauce is simmering, make the cheese sauce. In a small saucepan over low heat melt the butter. Add the flour and continue to stir while the flour cooks for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk, add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste, and continue cooking (and whisking) until the sauce has thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in 1 cup of grated cheese.
5. In a 20cm x 30cm (8in x 12in) baking dish spread a third of the meat sauce over the bottom then add half the kale. This may seem like a lot of kale but it will wilt down slightly when cooked. Layer with half the lasagne sheets then repeat the process and top with the remaining third of the meat sauce. Top with the cheese sauce and sprinkle over the remaining 1 cup of grated cheese.
6. Bake for approx. 30-50 min or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Recipe Notes

Note 1: A rib is a single stem of celery.
Note 2: If you are short of time feel free to substitute a jar of good quality alfredo pasta sauce in place of the cheese sauce.