Beef And Pumpkin Lasagna

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (or 3 teaspoons minced garlic)
• 1 large brown onion (roughly chopped)
• 1 large carrot (diced)
• 1 large red capsicum/bell pepper (diced)
• 2 lbs lean ground beef mince
• 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
• 24 oz bottle of Passata
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon Vegeta or any other vegetable stock powder
• 4 cups pumpkin (, peeled, deseeded and finely sliced (1/2 cm - 1/8-inch slices))
• 6 sheets wholemeal/spelt or whole grain lasagna sheets
• 1 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 4 cups grated light Mozzarella
• 4 tablespoons light/reduced fat butter of choice (or margarine)
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat/wholemeal flour (or light spelt)
• 2 cups skim milk (or almond milk)
• 1 pinch salt

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Lasagna: ---

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 200C | 390F. Heat the oil in a large sized pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and panfry until onion is transparent (1-2 minutes).

3. 3

   Add the carrots and capsicums/peppers, pan frying until soft; add the beef, and cook stirring while breaking up the meat until browned. Stir through parsley, Passata, tomato paste, sugar and stock powder. Season with salt to taste; remove from heat and set aside.

4. 4

   --- Béchamel: ---

5. 5

   Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan on low heat. Add the flour and whisk the butter until lump free and smooth. Add a small amount of milk at a time (about 1/4 cup each time), whisking until smooth and combined between each interval. (Add 1/4 cup more than the suggested 2 cups to reach your desired consistency if you need too). Stir through salt to taste.

6. 6

   --- To assemble lasagna: ---

7. 7

   Spray a large oven proof baking dish with nonstick spray and wipe excess over with a paper towel

8. 8

   Spoon about 1 1/ 2 cups of the beef sauce around the base of the pan.

9. 9

   Layer with 3 sheets on top and about 1½ cup of meat sauce over the sheets. Arrange pumpkin slices over the meat sauce; spoon half the ricotta evenly over the sauce and half the mozzarella cheese.

10. 10

    Repeat to create another layer with the 3 remaining lasagna sheets; the remaining sauce; remaining pumpkin slices and ricotta. Spoon the Béchamel over the ricotta and top with the mozzarella cheese.

11. 11

    Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove foil and change the oven setting to grill/broil on medium heat to brown the top. Remove from oven and let stand for 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving.