Bacon & Mixed Pepper Lasagne : a lot of work, but so worth it!

I find cooking Lasagne and Moussaka a hard old slog, these days.  I suppose it's because they have at least three main processes, in that the meat, then the sauce need cooking, then the whole lot requires layering up, before you can put it in the oven and put your feet up for five minutes.

When I put this Lasagne on the menu list, we had temporarily forgotten that we would be out on Sunday evening, at the Bournemouth Folk Club.  Had I have remembered this, there was no way on this earth I'd have ever put Lasagne down as a definite.  However, there it was and all I could do was struggle on through.

For an able-bodied person, I suspect the making of the Lasagne would be simple enough but the thing that I find so difficult is the amount of time spent in front of the cooker stirring one thing or another, plus the time spent cutting and chopping.  There's an awful lot of cutting and chopping involved!  By the time I'd reached the layering assembly point, I could no longer feel my hands - and even though I was sitting down for a lot of it, my legs and knees had definitely had it.

However, after all that moaning - and if you've reached this far - let me say that it is very definitely worth it.

The Lasagne is a thing of beauty once created - and it has so many layers of flavour.  If I was to say that son & heir eats it without complaint - and bear in mind that it contains largely red, green & yellow peppers - then it might go a long way to validate just how nice a lasagne this is.

Oh - and one other thing.  It can easily be converted to a vegetarian dish simply by not including the bacon.

Lasagne : about to go into the oven

BACON & MIXED PEPPER LASAGNE  (feeds 6)

Ingredients :

Pack of bacon (leave this out if opting for a vegetarian lasagne)
5-6 mixed peppers, cored and cut into slices
1 small onion, chopped
clove of garlic, grated
6 large vine tomatoes (the tastiest ones you can find), roughly chopped
1 tbsp fresh basil, torn
half a tsp of dried oregano
splash of Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato ketchup
ground black pepper to taste
1 pint semi-skimmed milk
1 heaped tbsp flour
25g butter
cayenne pepper to taste
225g cheese, grated - I use red leicester or mature cheddar
lasagne sheets.

Method :

1.  Fry the bacon pieces and remove from the pan to keep warm.

2.  Fry the onion & garlic until soft and browned and remove to keep warm with the bacon.

3.  Fry the sliced peppers until soft, then add the tomatoes, puree, ketchup, herbs, Worcestershire sauce and return the bacon and onion to the pan.  Cook for another ten minutes or so, allowing all the flavours to combine and the lot to become saucy.  You may need to add a little water to encourage the "sauciness".

4.  Place the milk, flour and butter into a pan and slowly bring to the boil, whisking like mad until it reaches boiling point and starts to thicken.  Add three quarters of the cheese and stir until it has melted.  Season with a little cayenne pepper.


5.  Begin to layer into a large lasagne dish by starting with a layer of the cheese sauce, then a layer of lasagne sheets, meat mixture, then the cheese sauce, repeating until you finish with a layer of peppers then cheese sauce.  Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top.


6.  Bake for around 45-60 mins at 180deg C until golden brown and smelling lush.


Serve with garlic bread and a side salad.

A thing of beauty

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