Lasagne and Boomie Hills Fridge Tart

One dish you can’t go wrong with, whether cooking for Mother’s, friends or your family is a hearty lasagne. Mel and I work together and she has no choice but to talk a lot about food with me; one of the many food topics we’ve crossed is her yummy lasagne. I can safely say, having had some samples of Mel’s cooking brought into work on occasions, I can confidently say she knows her stuff in the kitchen. So, there’s no need to spell out why Mel made it on my list of foodies!

Acknowledgement: Images taken by Janine Shepard from Jinx Photography 

We all eagerly flocked to the lasagne dish; it’s just one of those crowd pleasing, “get-in-my-belly-now” kind of dishes. Whether you are 7 or 70 this dish will always bring a smile to your face, and I bet it’s a world-wide secret weapon all Mothers have to keep their families happy. Melissa certainly made us smile; every mouthful was full of nostalgia, warmth and flavour!

Mel didn’t stop her palette pleasing with the lasagne; she also whipped up a rustic fridge tart. Although our bellies were bursting at the seams, we had to conquer the desserts too. Every bite of Mel’s “Boomie Hills” fridge tart was followed with “mmmmh”! That sound basically sums up the dessert; “yum…mmh”!

If you haven’t learnt how to make Mom’s lasagne, no need to worry; you can use Mel’s and put a smile on Mom’s face with this family winner and delight her sweet tooth with a bit of Boomie Hills. Go on, indulge yourself!         

Lasagne

Ingredients: 

1kg mince

3 large onions, chopped

5 cloves fresh garlic, finely chopped

1 punnet mushrooms, chopped

1 punnet baby marrows, chopped

3 Green peppers, chopped

1 packet carrots, peeled and grated

1 can tomotatoe puree

1 tube tomatoe paste

1 packet Fresh tomatoes, blanched and chopped

1 Tbs dried thyme

1 Tbs dried rosemary

1 Tbs dried sweet basil

1 Tbs dried Oregano

1 Tbs dried mixed herbs

2 heaped spoons of veggie stock

125ml Boiling Water

1 Block Cheddar Cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

Olive oil

White sauce:

50g Butter

70g Flour

Milk

Instruction:

Mince

1. On a medium to high heat fry onions in a large pot, and then add garlic once the onions are almost cooked.

2. Add the mince, allow to cook through; stir occasionally to avoid the mince sticking to the pan.

2. Once the mince is cooked through, add the tomato puree, tomato paste and fresh tomatoes. Stir the mixture.

3. In a measuring jug, add all the herbs, stock and boiling water and add to the mince.

4. Add the mushrooms, baby marrows, peppers and carrots; allow to simmer for an hour or so on a low heat.

White sauce

1. Melt butter on a medium heat.

2. Add the flour until all the butter is absorbed by the butter.

3. Gradually add milk to the flour/butter mixture until the flour is dissolved thoroughly in the milk.

4. Continue adding milk and stirring until the white sauce is smooth and thick.

Assemble:

1. Use a large rectangular deep based dish.

2. Lay the bottom of the dish with mince sauce.

3. Sprinkle grated cheese over the mince sauce and layer lasagne sheets (do not overlay the sheets).

4. Continue steps 2 and 3 until your mixture is finished or until the dish is pretty full.

5. Finish your layering with your white sauce and sprinkling of grated cheese.

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees and bake for an hour.

Once cooked allow the lasagne to stand for 20 minutes.

Boomie Hills

Ingredients:

1 Tin of condense milk

1 Packet of tennis biscuits

250ml Fresh Cream

40ml Lemon juice

2 Flakes (crushed) OR 50g Chocolate grated

Instruction:

1. Beat the condense milk and the lemon juice together (the lemon juice helps the dessert to set).
2. Add the cream and continue to beat.
3. Crush the biscuits and add them to the mixture.
4. Add the chocolate (leaving a small remainder behind to decorate with).