Another Kind of Lasagna

Would you ever think of using leftover food in lasagna? I did.

After I got married I realized that kitchen economics is hard business. Some of the food I prepare are left most of the time and I have limited time to keep them in the fridge. I hate throwing away food so I always try to find ways to reuse them.

One day while I was thinking of what to do with the leftover red lentil soup, pinto beans meal and squash meal, I decided to put them in the food processor, make a mash and use this mixture of vegetables in the sauce of lasagna.

Lasagna sauce is made up of minced meat and a mixture of certain vegetables and I thought changing the type of vegetables a bit might not harm the recipe much. Maybe an Italian will kill me for coming up with this seemingly not so brilliant idea , but it was a great success in my terms.

Firstly the meal turned up to be a delicious one after which you might eat your fingers. Secondly it was a great contribution to our budget. Now whenever my husband is bored of eating something he says “You can put this in the deep freezer and use it in making lasagna.”

Of course at first I didn’t tell him my little secret. I wanted to observe his genuine reaction when he tried my “another kind of lasagna”. His appreciation way exceeded my expectations; he was crazy about it and now he periodically asks from me to prepare lasagna for him.

If you have leftover food at home, especially vegetable meals or soup, you can easily prepare this recipe too.

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce:

• 1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil or melted butter
• 250 gr. minced meat
• 1 large onion
• Mash of leftover food (Approximately 300 gr. will do. )
• 4 tablespoons of tomato mash ( or 2 large tomatoes or 2 tablespoons of tomato paste)
• Salt, pepper

For the bechamel sauce:

• 2 glasses of milk
• 1 tablespoon of flour
• 1 tablespoon of olive or vegetable oil or melted butter
• Salt, pepper

For topping:

• Grated kaşar cheese (kind of a cheddar cheese we have in Turkey), or parmesan

Preparation of the meat sauce:

• In a shallow large pan put the olive oil, heat for a minute.
• Chop the onion into very little pieces ( I usually put them in the food processor)
• Put the onion in the pan and lightly brown.
• Add the minced meat and cook until color of the minced meat changes.(I usually keep some roasted minced meat with onion in the deep freezer, in one meal portions, because it is the basis for most of the Turkish meals. So this part is quicker form e, I only put the roasted minced meat with onions in the pan and heat for a while)
• Add the tomato mash(or peeled, grated tomatoes or tomato paste) and stir a few times, then add the leftover food mash. Stir a few times. Leave on the stove over light heat for about 5 minutes. Usually this mixture has enough water in it but if it seems too dry and you think it will stick or burn, add a little bit of water. Turn the heat off after about 5 minutes.

Preparation of the bechamel sauce:

• In a small deep pan put the olive oil and heat for one minute.
• Add the flour and over medium heat stir until it is lightly brown.
• Turn the heat off.
• Add the milk very very slowly. Add a bit, as much as a tablespoon of, stir and mix very well with the flour, then add again, make sure that all the milk is sucked up by the flour, stir, add some more milk again and continue until the flour is fully saturated with milk and will not make bumps if you add the rest.
• Turn the heat on to high, add the rest of the milk, stir the mixture until it boils, then turn the heat to medium and wait until the mixture thickens. You do not need to wait until it gets thick like a pudding because you will put the lasagna in the oven. The bechamel sauce will be cooked there also.

Preparation of lasagna:

• I have a 20x20 shallow glass oven bowl. I put some bechamel sauce first and cover the bottom surface of the bowl with it. I put two sheets of lasagna side by side in the bowl. I cover the top of the lasagna sheets with the meat sauce. I pour some bechamel sauce on top of the meat sauce, just to lightly cover it, then I put two more sheets of lasagna and repeat the process until I run out of the sauces. I put two sheets of lasagna at the very top and cover the top with grated cheese.
• I put the bowl in the oven and I cook for 25 minutes at 180 degrees. Please watch the lasagna from time to time if it is the first time you are trying it because as in each recipe I state, every oven and stove are different and you might need to keep the lasagna less or more in the oven accordingly.
• Take the lasagna out of the oven after 25 minutes, or after the grated cheese is deliciously browned (not burned).
• Enjoy!

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