So, with a title like that you are either going to think that
- I’ve taken the whole alternative meat thing too far and have cooked up someone’s pet pooch.
- I’ve found a little known pasta recipe originating from an old coastal region of Croatia.
I suppose technically those who went for point 1 were a little closer to the truth because what I mean by dalmatian lasagne is this.
Lasagne with an interesting spotted top. Hmmm… maybe its more like a leopard.
Those who saw this emerge from the oven said things like ‘Oh, cool! How’d you get it to do that?’ In reality, I have no idea why it did that. I put it down to a quirk in the design of the electric oven I was using.
If I’d INTENDED the weird spot pattern I’d have been very pleased with myself. But I bet that if I do exactly the same thing the next time and make lasagne with the intention of it being spotty, the blasted thing probably won’t brown at all!
Anyway, spotting aside, this was a mighty good lasagne! It had a slightly spicy filling of pork sausages, tomato and pepper and was topped with a mild cheddar sauce. I’m fairly sure the idea wasn’t entirely my own. I think that I might have even seen it on someone elses blog, after which it implanted itself in my subconscious until I was stuck with nothing to cook on New Years day. Then I realised that this could be made from things I already had in my cupboard.
Into the pan went a chopped onion with 2 cloves of crushed garlic a chopped red pepper and loads of oregano with some olive oil. One the veg had softened I added 6 skinned, seeded chopped tomatoes, and about 1/3 bottle red wine and a tablespoon of tomato paste and a dash of tabasco. Then I fried up 6 chopped pork sausages (Tesco finest from the bargain bin 
) with another garlic clove and threw that in to the tomato mixture before reducing it until nearly dry. The topping was a simple milk-based cheddar sauce.
This turned out tobe really tasty and a nice light meal after I’d been sitting around the house all day doing nothing. I just served it with a side salad of mixed leaves with a lemon- olive oil dressing. I think it was really cheap too. Those sausages only cost 40p and most of the other ingredients were vegetables. The red wine was technically not cheap, but it was left-over from a couple of days ago. This is definitely one to make again when sausages are on offer!
So, with a title like that you are either going to think that
- I’ve taken the whole alternative meat thing too far and have cooked up someone’s pet pooch.
- I’ve found a little known pasta recipe originating from an old coastal region of Croatia.
I suppose technically those who went for point 1 were a little closer to the truth because what I mean by dalmatian lasagne is this.
Lasagne with an interesting spotted top. Hmmm… maybe its more like a leopard.
Those who saw this emerge from the oven said things like ‘Oh, cool! How’d you get it to do that?’ In reality, I have no idea why it did that. I put it down to a quirk in the design of the electric oven I was using.
If I’d INTENDED the weird spot pattern I’d have been very pleased with myself. But I bet that if I do exactly the same thing the next time and make lasagne with the intention of it being spotty, the blasted thing probably won’t brown at all!
Anyway, spotting aside, this was a mighty good lasagne! It had a slightly spicy filling of pork sausages, tomato and pepper and was topped with a mild cheddar sauce. I’m fairly sure the idea wasn’t entirely my own. I think that I might have even seen it on someone elses blog, after which it implanted itself in my subconscious until I was stuck with nothing to cook on New Years day. Then I realised that this could be made from things I already had in my cupboard.
Into the pan went a chopped onion with 2 cloves of crushed garlic a chopped red pepper and loads of oregano with some olive oil. One the veg had softened I added 6 skinned, seeded chopped tomatoes, and about 1/3 bottle red wine and a tablespoon of tomato paste and a dash of tabasco. Then I fried up 6 chopped pork sausages (Tesco finest from the bargain bin ) with another garlic clove and threw that in to the tomato mixture before reducing it until nearly dry. The topping was a simple milk-based cheddar sauce.
This turned out tobe really tasty and a nice light meal after I’d been sitting around the house all day doing nothing. I just served it with a side salad of mixed leaves with a lemon- olive oil dressing. I think it was really cheap too. Those sausages only cost 40p and most of the other ingredients were vegetables. The red wine was technically not cheap, but it was left-over from a couple of days ago. This is definitely one to make again when sausages are on offer!
I like the fact you make these delicious meals on a budget ( at least on this occasion)
I have discovered the pleasure of Waitrose reduced food - its the best way of getting incredibly posh ingredients cheaply.
So th is week my kids have sampled canadian scallops, posh Spanish cheese, organic ham and asparagus tips. Not together of course - but at a bargain price. Which was pleasing…
Comment by Great Big Veg Challenge — January 3, 2007 @ 5:42 pm
Hi Ros,
The Dalmation lasagne looks delicious - when you were explaining it you said you reduced the sauce until it was nearly dry - it looks quite saucy in the picture?
Comment by Schmoofaloof — January 3, 2007 @ 6:40 pm
Hi GBVC: I must try out the Waitrose bargain bin too - usually I hang around the one at the big Earls Court Tesco and get some great stuff. We got a half dozen oysters for 28p each once - very happy!
I do quite a lot of my meals on budget. I am lucky that I like things like liver and kidneys, wich makes it easy for me to go budget for a couple of weeks then splash out on something really nice with the money I save. When I first started the blog I did a week of living on a student budget but trying to eat nice things - the link to those posts is there in the categories list - it is suprising what you can do with small amounts of money if you know what to buy.
Hi Schmoof : The picture does make it look a lot more saucy than it really was. But I really wasn’t clear about what I meant by ‘nearly dry’, was I? :/ I wish I had time to write up full recipes like I used to. Damn this dumb thesis!
Anyway I meant I had a little bit of thick sauce to coat all the filling bits. So the lasagne cuts quite cleanly without sauce oozing everywhere but it is still moist. Hopefully that should make it a bit more clear.
Comment by ros — January 3, 2007 @ 9:36 pm
Ah, i see. Whenever i make lasagne i get worried that it’s not ’saucy’ enough to cook the no-cook sheets, and end up with a great heap of a mess. I shall try your way. Thanks
Comment by schmoofaoof — January 4, 2007 @ 10:52 pm
I actually didn’t use no-cook sheets this time and I haven’t for quite a while as Goon is usually there to do the job of cooking and oiling the lasagne sheets. From what I remember that amount of sauce should be enough I think. Good luck - let me know how it goes!
Comment by ros — January 4, 2007 @ 11:34 pm
I just dig the name “dalmation lasagna”, makes me want to make it for my nephew.
Comment by Garrett — January 5, 2007 @ 5:14 pm