Hearty Pancake Lasagna
Deliciously yummy, this Pancake Lasagna tastes like lasagna but not so heavy on the tummy due to the light, fluffy pancakes used instead of lasagna sheets.
Ingredients
Sauce
- 1 tbsp Olive Oil
- 4 Garlic Cloves
- 1 medium Brown Onion
- 1 medium Carrot
- 3 tbsp Red Wine
- 1 kg Mince Beef (Refer to ingredient notes below)
- 2 Beef Stock Cubes
- Pinch Salt and Pepper
- 400 g Tin Whole Peeled Tomatoes
- ½ cup Water
- ¾ cup Tomato Paste
Pancakes
- 2 large Eggs
- 2 cups Milk
- 2 cups Plain Flour
- 1 cup Water more if needed
- 1 tsp Olive Oil
Other
- 400 g Mozzarella Cheese Ball or Block (Also refer to ingredient notes below)
Instructions
Sauce
- Finely dice the garlic and onions, then roughly chop the carrot into small enough pieces to cook through.
- Heat oil in a large pot over a medium-high heat.
- Saute garlic until fragrant.
- Add onion and carrot and continue to cook until the onion starts to go translucent and goes yellowy-orange in colour.
- Add wine and stir 1 to 2 mintes or until the wine has reduced. The ingredients will also soak the wine up.
- Add mince and break up using the end of your wooden spoon, Do not stir until the mince has broken up, use a back and fourth motion instead. (Refer to note 1)
- Crumble 2 beef stock cubes and stir through.
- Add salt and pepper to taste (do not add too much salt as beef stock already contains enough)
- Flatten out the mince and reduce the liquid. (approx 10 to 15 minutes) Make sure you stir occasionally and reflatten. You will know when it has reduced enough if you push some of the mixture aside and little to no liquid fills the gap.
- Add the tin of tomatoes and break them up while stirring through the meat.
- Fill the tomato tin half way with warm water, swish about to get any excess off the inside of the tin and add to the pot.
- Add tomato paste, then stir through.
- Turn the heat down to low and simmer until you have a thick sauce (approx 10 to 15 minutes.) Once the sauce is thick, turn off the heat, put on the lid and allow the sauce to stand while you make the pancakes.
Pancakes
- Whisk eggs in a medium-sized bowl
- Add milk and continue to whisk
- Add flour and whisk until smooth
- Add water to thin it out
- Add a splash of olive oil to avoid pancakes sticking (optional)
- Spray a crepe pan with a little olive oil, and pour just enough to make a crepe sized pancake. You also need to try and have it as thin as a crepe. If the batter is not thin enough, add a little more water to thin it out.
- Cook until the side facing up is no longer liquid and then flip and continue to cook. Place all cooked pancakes aside.
Assembly
- Thinly slice the mozzarella cheese and pre-heat your ovens griller/broiler to 200°C or 390°F (Refer to note 2)
- Add a very thin layer of the sauce to the bottom of a 7cm (h)/42.5 (w)/ 25cm (d) Baking dish. (Refer to note 3)
- Add two pancakes and cut a third into small pieces to fill the gaps.
- Add thin layer of sauce, enough to just cover the pancakes and then a small amount of sliced mozzarella cheese over the top of the sauce.
- Repeat once more, then the third layer of sauce needs to be the thickest layer of sauce, along with a generous layer of mozzarella on the top.
- Grill/Broil at about 200°C for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and brown, (you can bake also if you can’t grill/broil; just remember everything is already cooked you just need to brown the cheese and allow everything to bind together)
- Once the cheese is brown, remove it from the oven/griller and rest for 20 minutes before serving.
- Sprinkle with parsley and serve
Notes
Ingredient Notes:
- Use 80/20 minced beef (hamburger mince for the best flavour). You can also use Lamb, Chicken and Pork Mince instead of beef.
- You can use grated mozzarella if you are unable to get a ball or block to slice. Tip - fresh melts better.
