Back in the days when I could eat wheat I loved fresh pasta. It was a quick, easy meal that delighted my taste buds. I even got given a pasta machine by my mother-in-law one Christmas so I could make my own. Typically shortly after that I found out I couldn’t eat wheat. Boo.
I’ll admit, I didn’t venture into making my own wheat free pasta until a year ago, I so wish I had played around with this earlier as it really is easy. Literally flour in a bowl, add eggs, a drizzle of oil, mix. Roll, cut and cook. So simple a toddler could do it…..
One thing I know a lot of gluten free people miss is great tasting lasagne. Real comfort food that tastes so good, you don’t have to miss out any longer!
Today I decided to set about making a gluten free/wheat free lasagne completely from scratch, feel free to adapt this recipe and use bought lasagne sheets if you want.
I was inspired by a packet of BezGluten flour, having never used this flour and with it being new to the UK I was keen to give it a go and it looked good for pasta making to me. Here is the flour:
Drizzle of olive oil (about 1tbsp) and a drizzle of water (about 1tbsp)
Weigh out the flour, make a well in the centre and break in the eggs. Beat the eggs and then start to combine into a dough. Use a little of the oil and water to help combine the mixture if it is a little dry. Once it is mixed cover with a damp tea towel and set aside.
You can use this pasta recipe for all kinds of things, I decided to try a lasagne today and it was delicious. The mix made enough for a lasagne for 4 people with a little dough left over which I have in the fridge for tomorrow.
Break the eggs into a well in the flourPasta Dough
Dietitian UK: Homemade Gluten Free Lasagne
Roll the pasta out either using a rolling pin or a pasta machine. Call me greedy but I like to use both, so I start with the rolling pin and then pass the dough through the pasta machine. Break off about 1/4 of the dough and keep the rest covered with the damp tea towel. Roll out to a couple of millimetres thick. To get a nice silky pasta you’ll need to do this several times. Sprinkle the dough with a little gluten free flour each time to prevent it from sticking, once you have rolled it thinly, fold it in half, then in half again and roll it out again.
Dietitian UK: Rolling out the pasta dough
Then slice the pasta into sheets that will fit your lasagne dish. Layer the pasta over your mince mixture and top with the white sauce (recipes below).
Dietitian UK: Layering up the lasagne sheetsDietitian UK: Lasagne layering in progress
Mince Recipe:
There are so many great bolognaise recipes out there and any of these will do, here’s how I made mine.
Dry cook 500g lean mince in a pan, it will release it’s own fat to cook in. Strain some of the excess fat off and then add an onion and 2 cloves of garlic, cook gently. Add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes and 2 tbsp tomato puree and 200ml stock (I used homemade chicken stock you could use a gluten-free stock cube plus water), let it simmer whilst you chop up 3 large carrots, a large handful of mushrooms and 1 pepper. Chop these fairly small and then add to the pan. Season with pepper and mixed herbs. I also add balsamic vinegar, 1 tsp sugar and a glug of red wine.
White Sauce:
Pour 2 tbsp rapeseed oil into a pan and heat, add 2 tbsp gluten free flour. Mix well and quickly add a little milk. Remove from the heat and stir to make a runny paste. Add some more milk and place back on a moderate heat, stirring continuously. I make my white sauce from half milk and half water, adding the liquid as it is needed. Keep stirring or whisking to prevent lumps and check the heat is not too high or it can burn. You want a consistency like double cream, so fairly thick but still pourable.
To make this dairy free use rice milk or soya milk instead.
Dietitian UK: White Sauce
Layer up your lasagne with the gluten free pasta sheets and sprinkle a little cheese on the top (omit the cheese for a dairy free version) and cook at Gas Mark 4/200 C for 40 minutes.
Dietitian UK: the cooked lasagne
Enjoy with a green salad and maybe a cheeky glass of wine!
Dietitian UK: Homemade Gluten Free Lasagne
Freelance Dietitian specialising in helping those with Eating Disorders and a Media Spokesperson for the profession.
