If you liked my Cheat's Lasagne Recipe from a last month then you'll love this variation. I used to spend hours coming up with elaborate meals to prepare, but these days with a young baby I don't have enough to time to prepare, let alone think of such creative meals as I used to. Well not regularly anyway.
This pasta bake is great in that I can throw this in the slow cooker in the morning (while the little one naps) and then it's ready to serve in the evening. Perfect for if we have a busy afternoon ahead. It's so easy and pretty darn tasty too. The leftovers keep us going for a couple of days and best of all, even the baby likes it!
Ingredients:
- 2 x 185 gram tins of tuna in spring water
- 1 x 400 gram can of creamed corn
- 1 cup of vegetable stock
- 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 onion, roughly, chopped
- salt and pepper
- 300 grams dried pasta
- 1 & 1/2 cups of grated cheese
- 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
- 2 eggs
Oil the bowl of the slow cooker, and turn on to high setting to preheat.
In a food processor mix the tuna (including liquid), creamed corn, stock, celery, carrots, onion, and salt and pepper till well combined.
Spread 1/4 of the mix in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cover with half of the dried pasta, then another 1/4 of the mix over that. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, before layering the remaining pasta, then the rest of the tuna mix on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.
In the same food processor (don't bother cleaning it in between) combine the eggs and milk, then pour this over the top of the cheese. Put the lid on the slow cooker and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 5-6 hours, before slicing and serving.
Okay, so I'll admit this from the start, if you're a purist - this isn't exactly lasagne, but if you're lazy like me and want the meat, pasta, cheese combo baked into something that you can serve (and freeze if you want) easily, then this is your jam! When I say easy, I mean EASY. Traditional lasagne takes time to prep and lots of pots and pans - you have to cook the meat sauce, cook the pasta and make a white sauce before assembling and baking again. This cheat lasagne however, simply mix, layer, and leave for 5 or 6 hours then devour! Yes, there is absolutely NO pre-cooking required. And to make it even easier, mix everything in the food processor! You can thank me later.
Ingredients (serves 6):
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 large carrot
- 1 zucchini
- 1 cup of beef stock
- 1/2 cup tomato paste
- 400 g tin of tomatoes
- 500 g beef mince
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp cracked pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 250 g dried lasagne or pasta shapes (spiral would also work well)
- 4 tsp cornflour
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 2 eggs
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
Preheat the slow cooker by turning it on high, and oiling the dish. (Alternatively you could bake it in the oven on 120 degrees Celsius for 5 hours.
In the food processor, chop onion, garlic, carrot and zucchini till well minced. Add the stock, tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, mince, oregano, salt and pepper and mix till well combined.
Layer the mince with the dried pasta into the slow cooker dish. Use 1/4 of your mince mixture first, spreading evenly, then 1/2 of the dried pasta. Top with another quarter of the mince mixture, then the other half of the dried pasta. Finally put the remaining half of the mince mixture over the top.
Scatter the grated cheese over top. Next mix your cornflour with a little of the milk till smooth, then mix in the remaining milk and eggs. Season with salt and pepper and beat well. Pour this over the top of the grated cheese. Turn your slow cooker onto low, cover and leave for 4-6 hours till cooked through and beginning to brown on top. Every slow cooker is different - in mine, it is done perfectly after 5 hours, so keep an eye on yours the first time to get the perfect cooking time.
Slice and serve with garlic bread and either salad or steamed vegetables.
