mock lasagne

My friend, FK, told me that when Da and I invite the gang over to our place for dinner, to ensure that her son, GK, does not snack before dinner, she will tell her son that I am making lasagne for dinner. *grin*

Well, when the gang came over to our place for dinner on 20 September 2008, I did not make any lasagne for dinner. Instead, I made a "mock lasagne", namely, a chicken and pasta casserole. The difference, essentially, is in the type of pasta that is used to made the dish. Lasagne is a form of pasta in sheets. As a dish, it is made with alternate layers of pasta, cheese and meat or tomato sauce.

For the mock lasagne, I used macaroni noodles instead of lasagne noodles. A useful tip is not to stinge on the cheese. Many people would just use mozarella cheese. However, the dish would be more flavourful if you were to add grated cheddar cheese and grated parmesan cheese as well.

The mock lasagne goes well with garlic bread (best to be home-made, of course!).

Ingredients

1 packet of macaroni noodles

1 bottle of pasta sauce

100g minced meat

100g chicken fillet (cubed)

2 stalks of celery (cut into bite-sized pieces)

1 green capsicum (sliced)

1 red capsicum (sliced)

1 yellow capsicum (sliced)

2 potatoes (cubed)

1 carrot (cubed)

1 can chick peas

1 can young corn (sliced)

1 can green peas

1 can button mushrooms (sliced)

cooking sherry

worcestershire sauce

1 bottle bacon bits

fresh / dried herbs (eg. oregano, thyme, rosemary, basil)

1 pkt grated mozarella cheese

1 pkt grated cheddar cheese

1 pkt grated parmesan cheese

black peppercorn (to taste)

white peppercorn (to taste)

sugar (to taste)

1 bottle tomato sauce

butter / margarine / garlic spread

Method

1. Boil the macaroni noodles according to the instructions on the packet. After draining the cooked noodles, mix the noodles with some butter / margarine / garlic spread to prevent the noodles from sticking together. Set aside.

2. Marinade the minced meat and the chicken fillet with some cooking sherry and worcestershire sauce. Set aside.

3. In a large pot, add the celery, green capsicum, red capsicum, yellow capsicum, potatoes, carrots, chick peas, corn, green peas and button mushrooms. Fill the pot with just enough water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the ingredients have softened.

4. Add the pasta sauce and marinated meat to the pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until the meat has softened.

5. Sprinkle the bacon bits, dried herbs and grated parmesan cheese and mix well.

6. Add grated black peppercorn, grated white peppercorn, sugar and tomato sauce to taste.

7. When the mixture has boiled, switch off the flame and you are ready to assemble the mock lasagne.

Method of assembly

1. Line a 9" x 9" baking pan with aluminium foil.

2. Fill the bottom layer of the pan with some macaroni noodles.

3. Add a layer of the meat sauce.

4. Add a layer of grated mozarella cheese and grated cheddar cheese.

5. Repeat steps 2, 3 and 4 until you reach the top of the baking pan.

6. The top layer should be the cheese layer.

7. Bake at 180 degrees celsius for 30 minutes.

Tips

1. I usually make my own pasta sauce but when I am rushed for time, I will buy pasta sauce. I would usually buy pasta sauce that already has ingredients added, eg. mushrooms, garden vegetables, meat, etc.

2. For the minced meat, beef would be my 1st choice of meat. However, if we have guests who do not eat beef, then I will use chicken or pork instead.

3. I make my own garlic spread. If, however, you do not want to use garlic spread (whether home-made or bought) to mix with the cooked macaroni noodles, butter or margarine will do as well. Alternatively, you may want to use olive oil instead. Do not add too much oil / butter / margarine / garlic spread as the purpose is just to prevent the macaroni noodles from sticking together.