Easy Gluten Free Beef Lasagne

5 from 7 votes

Easy Gluten Free Beef Lasagne

An easy Gluten Free Beef Lasagne made with dairy free options for the béchamel sauce. Made from a recipe I developed when I was 15 years old and tweaked to be gluten free later in life. The recipe also has a handy tip on how to get the best lasagne pasta with no inedible crunchy bits (a common downside to gluten free lasagne sheets).

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Dairy Free

Keyword: Dairy Free, Easy, Family Meal Idea, Gluten Free, Italian, Pasta, Simple

Servings:

Calories: 620kcal

Author: Glutarama

Ingredients

For the beef ragu

300 g beef mince
200 g passata
2 sticks celery
1 carrot(s)
1 medium white onion
50 ml red wine or use 50ml water if alcohol free
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp garlic (powder, puree or clove)
1 tsp oregano
salt & pepper to taste to taste
6 lasagne sheets soaked [see notes]

For the béchamel sauce

40 g butter I use a dairy free plant butter by Flora
3 tbsp gluten free plain flour
200 ml milk I use unsweetened soya milk
pinch nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste to taste

To top

100 g mature cheddar grated, use a dairy free cheddar style cheese.

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Soak pasta sheets

Follow the instructions in the notes if you plan to pre-soak your lasagne sheets for a far better resulting lasagne.

To make the beef ragu

Prepare the carrot, celery sticks and onion, chopping these into small pieces.
In a large pan or wok gently fry the chopped vegetables in a splash of oil. Cook until the vegetables have started to go a delicate brown, the darker the colour the deep the flavour. Be careful not to burn.
Spoon the fried veg into a large jug and into the same jug pour the passata and add the dried herbs. If hiding the vegetables this is when you can use a hand blender to blend the contents to a thick tomato sauce.
In the same pan you fried the vegetables, add the beef mince and fry until browned.
Once browned, add the gluten free Worcester Sauce, garlic puree, tomato puree and red wine (if not using wine don't add the water just yet).
Cook the meat, wine and sauce on a high heat for a couple of minutes to burn off the alcohol and intensify the flavours.
Now add the jug of passata and vegetables (blended or not) back into the large pan and heat through one last time to combine. If you didn't use red wine, add your 50ml of water now to loosen the ragu.
Set aside to cool while you set to work making your béchamel sauce.

To make the béchamel sauce

In a medium saucepan melt the butter (or dairy alternative) then add 3 tablespoons of gluten free plain flour. Mix quickly with a wooden spoon to make a thick paste or roux.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk or milk alternative to the roux 2 tablespoons at a time until the roux has loosened enough to add the remaining milk.
Return to the heat and stir continuously until the béchamel has thickened to a thick custard consistency.
Remove from the heat, add a pinch of nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste.

Build your lasagne

Time to build your lasagne. Drain the water away from the lasagne dish and place the soft sheets of lasagne on a plate, ready to use.
Grease your lasagne dish and preheat the oven to 190°C | 170°C fan | 375°F | Gas 5
Spoon half the beef ragu into the bottom of the greased dish, over the ragu place three sheets of lasagne, then pour approx. ⅓ of the béchamel sauce over the paste sheets. With a spoon smooth the white sauce over the sheets.
Repeat the last step with the remaining ragu, pasta and the rest of the béchamel sauce. You want the white sauce to completely cover the lasagne sheets, any pasta showing will crisp up and go hard.
Finally top your homemade lasagne with the grated cheese and a good sprinkle of salt and crack of pepper to taste.
Pop into the oven and bake for 30 minutes or until the top has gone a lovely golden colour.
Top Tip: if you're worried your lasagne is cooking too long but isn't going a beautiful golden colour pop under the grill to finish it off.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting into 4 portions and serving with salad or gluten free garlic bread.

Notes

I simply layer my lasagne sheets in the lasagne dish I plan to use. first a lasagne sheet, then a toaster pockets, then a lasagne sheet and continue until you've used all the sheets you plan to use in your pasta dish.

This recipe uses 6 lasagne sheets so I use 5 toaster pockets.

I then pour a recently boiled kettle of water over the sheets and forget about them whilst I get on with the beef ragu and white sauce preparation.

Nutrition