Hello Everyone! The kangaroo makes another appearance on tonight’s blog post! I finally got around to using the other half of the kangaroo mince that I first cooked with about a month or more ago now. I decided to go with making a lasagne only because I had most of the essential ingredients already in my fridge/pantry at the time I was planning on making it – I really only needed the lasagne sheets and a few of the vegetables.

Tonight’s post is not going to be as long as the others; I don’t have much to tell. If you read my post on the Kangaroo Bolognese that I made a while back, you’d know the story behind how I came to purchase roo mince. Also, I mentioned in that post that I neither loved nor hated the taste of kangaroo – it was just an inexplainable feeling. I even said that, after having given kangaroo a second chance while camping in Uluru, I was leaning more towards liking it. After making this lasagne though, I’m definitely disliking the taste of it. However, it may very well be the fact that I made a lot of it to last me 6 meals, so that may be the reason why I started to dislike it after a while – but no; I won’t be purchasing kangaroo for a while. Maybe never again actually because I’ll be leaving Sydney soon and roo meat is DEFINITELY not available back home.

I actually ran out of mozzarella cheese when making the lasagne so I ended up adding tasty cheese as well because that was the only other cheese I had in the fridge – and I didn’t have much of it either. I have also doubled the quantities for the béchamel sauce as I found that I didn’t have enough for the meat filling recipe that I had.

Also, just a little side note, if you want to try this recipe out, DON’T lay the eggplant slices raw. They barely even cooked when the lasagne was in the oven. Took a bite, and it just ruined the dish for me. I had to take them out and cook them separately. Much hassles! So make sure you bake/grill/pan fry them before layering them in-between the meat and lasagne sheets. I mean, I already had this at the back of my head, that I needed to cook them first, but no, I didn’t. First amateur cook mistake for 2015 – yeap, I’m off to a good start.

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 1 HOUR 30 MINS | SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS

For the meat filling

• 500g kangaroo mince
• 1 can (400g) Italian diced tomatoes
• 1 sachet (2 tbsp) tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 4-5 dried bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed then minced
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1 carrot, cut into small chunks
• 1 medium-sized red onion, diced
• 1 red birds-eye chilli, sliced (optional for that added kick of spice)
• 1 zucchini, cut into small chunks
• Ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the béchamel sauce

• 2 cups milk
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp plain flour
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• Pinch of sea salt

• Wholemeal lasagne sheets
• 1 pack (250g) mozzarella cheese, grated
• 1 large eggplant, sliced

METHOD

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and pan fry the eggplant slices until done, about 4-5 minutes per side. Set aside.
3. In the same frying pan, sauté the garlic until golden and fragrant. Then add the onions in a sauté until soft. Add the vegetables in and cook for about 5 minutes before adding the kangaroo mince in. Cook over medium heat and slowly brown the meat. When the meat has completely browned, add the canned diced tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and water. Season with salt and pepper, then simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes.
4. While the meat is simmering away, get a head start on the béchamel sauce. Heat the olive oil in a medium-szied saucepan. Add the plain flour and nutmeg to the oil and stir continuously for 2 to 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk in a bit at a time while still stirring the mixture continuously. Stir until the sauce is smooth, season and then set aside.
5. In a ovensafe dish (I used a 28cm x 18cm pyrex dish), add half of the meat filling and top with half of the eggplant slices. Arrange a layer of lasagne sheets over the top and then followed by a layer of the béchamel sauce. Top with half of the pack of mozzarella cheese and then repeat for another layer.
6. Place the in the oven and bake for about 40 to 45 minutes.
7. Serve with a salad on the side and perhaps some yummy garlic bread.

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx