Recipe: Easy-roll Gluten Free Lasagne w/ Sourdough Starter Béchamel Sauce

Written By Sylvia

People shouldn’t be intimidated by lasagne - the excellent thing about this stack of deliciousness is that even if everything goes in wonky (pasta sheets ripped, sauce ratio off) it settles into perfection in the oven. Also - did you know you don’t need to pre-cook the pasta sheets? That’s right. Just throw ‘em in there with the sauce and let them cook in the heat and moisture of the stack.

Fresh pasta sheets are actually very simple, even if they’re gf. It’s 1 egg to 100g plain flour. You’ll want to use a good quality supermarket gf plain flour mix that already contains guar or Xanthan gum (most do)

Fresh Gluten Free Pasta Sheets

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs

  • 200g plain gluten free flour (with guar or xanthan gum)

  • Pinch salt

Method

  • Mix the flour and salt in a large, shallow bowl

  • Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs straight into the well

  • Using a fork at first, and then your hands, mix vigorously until you have a scraggly dough. If it’s very dry and floury, or if you are using especially small eggs you can add another egg.

  • Very soon the dough will come together and you can turn it out onto the bench to knead for 1 minute until it’s nice and smooth

  • Rest, covered with a tea towel, while you make the sauces

Pork & Fennel Bolognese

Ingredients

  • extra virgin olive oil

  • 250g organic or free range pork mince

  • 500g organic or free range beef mince

  • 1/2 fennel bulb, finely chopped

  • 1 carrot, finely chopped

  • white wine, a good splash

  • 400g tomato passata

  • 1/2 tsp salt

  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar

  • 1-2 tsp smoked paprika

Method

  • Over a high heat, brown the mince in the olive oil

  • Add the chopped vegetables and sauté briefly

  • Add the white wine, which should sizzle and pick up the fond (the caramelised bits at the bottom of the pan)

  • Lower the heat to a simmer, add the passata (make sure to empty the entire bottle by swirling a little water around the last bit of sauce)

  • Finally, add the salt, sugar & smoked paprika - simmer gently for about 30m, stirring regularly, until the vegetables are soft, the meat if fully cooked and the sauce and oil have melded nicely

Sourdough Starter Béchamel

I came across this idea on a podcast recently, it replaces the flour content of a béchamel sauce with sourdough starter. This makes the process of thickening the sauce much faster, as well as avoiding that “uncooked flour” taste that can often occur with speedily cooked béchamel. It also adds a lovely tang to the sauce, but if you don’t have a sourdough starter or don’t want to use one, you can of course make a traditional béchamel instead.

Ingredients

  • 50g butter

  • 250g - 350g milk of choice

  • 150g sourdough starter

  • Salt, to taste

  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste

Method

  • Heat the butter and milk on low heat until the butter has melted

  • Add the starter, whisking constantly until thick

  • If it thickens too quickly, add more milk

  • Season to taste with salt and nutmeg

  • It should be thick and silky - take off heat and leave aside until ready to assemble

Assembly & Baking

Elements

  • Pasta dough ball

  • Bolognese

  • Starter (or trad) béchamel

  • Mozzarella

Method

  • Working on a floured surface, divide your pasta dough into 4 and roll each quarter out roughly into strips (if you don’t have a rolling pin you can use a wine bottle!)

  • It really doesn’t matter if the pasta sheets rip - they will expand and adhere with each other and the sauce in the oven

  • Layer your lasagne in an oven dish: bolognese, pasta, bechemel, bolognese, pasta, béchamel etc etc until you reach the top

  • Make sure the last layer is béchamel and top with mozzarella

  • Bake at around 180c for 30-40m - YES THAT’S RIGHT, YOU DON’T NEED TO PRE-COOK THE PASTA - you’ll know when it’s ready because it will be bubbling, browned and smell amazing

  • This is the hardest part: WAIT 10-15m before serving, because lasagne magic occurs during it’s resting period out of the oven - it needs this time to settle into itself, at which point it will be easy to serve and even easier to eat

Notes

Serving

You know how

Keeping

Keeps all week in the fridge if it lasts that long, otherwise it makes a great freezer meal (freeze after baking and cooling)

Get in contact

Any questions? I’m happy to answer them click here to email me.

If you make it and you're pretty happy with yourself - share it to Instagram! Tag me sylvia_reallygoodglutenfree so I can see it ;)

Sylvia
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