Super speedy lasagne

Let’s be honest, lasagne is wonderful, but also rather tedious to make. While some home cooks have mastered the art of the white sauce, others – like me, manage to mess it up every time (I won’t tell you about the time I forgot to add the cheese and essentially served my family boiled milk and flour. Oops!).

That’s why this recipe is such a joy for those of us who love the Italian classic but would prefer to avoid the fuss. This speedy lasagne recipe uses crème fraiche instead of white sauce and the meat sauce is made simple with pork sausage (you can use mince if you prefer) and baby spinach. It’ll be ready for the oven in less than 30 minutes. Enjoy on its own or serve with a garden salad and garlic bread if you’re feeling extravagant.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing
• 6 large dried lasagne sheets
• 75g mature Cheddar cheese, grated

FOR THE PORK AND SPINACH SAUCE

• 1 tbsp oil
• 450g pork sausage meat
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
• 250g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 200ml full-fat crème fraîche
• 100g baby spinach, roughly chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

• 500g passata
• 2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
• 1 tsp light muscovado sugar
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh sage

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan-forced. Grease the ovenproof dish with butter. Soak the lasagne sheets in recently boiled warm water to soften while you prepare the two sauces.
2. For the pork and spinach sauce, heat the oil in a large, non-stick frying pan. Add sausage meat and brown over a high heat for 5–10 minutes until golden-brown, breaking up the mince with two wooden spoons. Sprinkle in the flour and fry for a minute.
3. Add the chilli, garlic and mushrooms and fry for about 5 minutes. Stir in the crème fraîche and spinach. Bring to the boil and allow to bubble for a couple of minutes. Season well with salt and pepper and set aside.
4. For the tomato sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a jug or bowl and season well with salt and pepper.
5. Drain the lasagne sheets.
6. Spoon one-third of the spinach sauce into the base of the ovenproof dish. Spoon one-third of the tomato sauce on top and arrange half the lasagne sheets over the tomato sauce. Repeat using two more layers of spinach and tomato sauce and one of lasagne sheets. Sprinkle over the grated cheese.
7. Bake for 30–35 minutes, or until the pasta is tender and the top of the dish is golden-brown and bubbling around the edges. Serve immediately.