The two tasty twists on a family favourite dinner to try – including a duck pancake one!
THOUGHT there was only one way to cook a lasagne? You couldn’t be more wrong!
A new cookbook, Between The Sheets by Sarah Wordie (Murdoch Books), has reinvented the Italian classic – and it’s already wowed Jamie Oliver when he judged her creations on The Great Cookbook Challenge.
Usually made with beef ragu and sheets of pasta, these new twists on an old fave are layered up with ingredients like poppadoms, vegetable ribbons, pancakes or pasta.
And the best bit is, if you love dodging the washing-up, these one-tray wonders will be right up your alley!
There’s everything from a chicken quesadilla take to tuck into, scrumptious meringue-layered puds and even a fakeaway-inspired duck and pancake version.
And if you’re really up for a challenge, the NHS doctor’s Christmas dinner lasagne (Brussels sprouts and all the trimmings), is definitely one to try come festive season.
Chicken Quesadilla Lasagne
Serves: 4
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 45 minutes
Cals: 799
Sat fat: 18g
Ingredients:
2tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 red peppers, chopped into bite-size chunks
3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
30g sachet fajita seasoning mix
400g tin chopped tomatoes
400g tin refried beans
3-4 tortilla wraps
150ml sour cream
200g tomato salsa
150g cheddar, grated
Method:
1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the chicken to the pan along with the fajita seasoning mix. Stir to combine and cook for a further 3 minutes, or until the chicken is browned. Tip in the chopped tomatoes, then rinse the can with around 100ml cold water and add this to the pan. Simmer for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened.
2. Put the refried beans into a small saucepan and warm them over
a low heat, adding a splash of cold water to loosen them. The beans
don’t need to be piping hot, as they’ll be going in the oven.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. Take a 20cm round ovenproof dish or one that matches the size of your tortillas. Cover the base of the dish with the first tortilla. Spread 2-3tbsp of
the sour cream over the tortilla, then half of the chicken before topping with half of the refried beans. Dollop 2 heaped tbsp of the tomato salsa over the beans, then scatter 50g of cheese. Repeat these layers once more. Finish with a third tortilla wrap. Cover with the remaining sour cream, salsa and cheese.
4. Bake in the hot oven for 30-40 minutes or until piping hot all the way through, and the cheese is gooey and melted. If the cheese is already browning but the lasagne isn’t yet piping hot, cover the top
with foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking.
5. Remove the dish from the oven and allow the lasagne to cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving
Crispy Duck Pancake Lasagne
Serves: 6
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour
Cals: 438
Sat fat: 5g
Ingredients:
2 crispy aromatic half ducks
300g jar hoisin sauce
150g pickled red cabbage, drained
2 carrots, peeled and grated
6 spring onions, finely sliced, plus extra to serve
12-15 Chinese-style pancakes
10g toasted sesame seeds
Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas mark 6. Cook the duck following the instructions on the packaging. Once cooked, remove the skin and shred the meat with two forks. Place the shredded duck in a bowl, add 100g hoisin sauce and stir to coat all the meat.
2. To make the slaw, place the red cabbage, carrots and spring onions in a large bowl. Add 100g hoisin sauce and stir to combine.
3. Cover the base of a 25 x 20cm ovenproof dish with 4 or 5 pancakes – as the pancakes are thin and delicate, overlap each pancake to make the layers more robust. Top with half of the duck, then half of the slaw. Repeat the layers once more. Finish with a third layer of pancakes. Pour over the remaining 100g hoisin sauce, spread to cover the top layer of pancakes, then cover the dish with foil.
4. Bake in the hot oven for 20-25 minutes or until the lasagne is bubbling. Remove the foil, scatter the sesame seeds over the top and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes.
5. Remove the dish from the oven and allow the lasagne to cool for a few minutes before scattering over a handful of spring onion curls, then slicing and serving.