The first dish I learned to make was, strangely enough, Lasagna. Sri Lanka (or Ceylon as it was known then) in the late 1960’s early 70’s was under the yoke of the near-communist regime of Sirimavo Bandaranaike (the first elected female leader of a nation worldwide). Imports were banned, and food was rationed so we Ceylonese had to be creative in how we used the resources available.

When we could get cheese it was the canned variety, tomato sauces and pastes were unheard of as were most herbs. This probably contributes to my dislike of cooked tomatoes (other than the grilled variety in a full English Breakfast) and herbs such as Oregano.

With all these constraints it is a wonder my mom was able to create a lasagna that looked and tasted authentic (as far as we knew). Lasagna was “Issara káma”, food eaten in the front of the house – and it was only served when entertaining guests.

I don’t know when I had the time to learn how to make lasagna – what with cricket, rugby, badminton, tennis lessons (the one sport I didn’t like and of course my parents made me take lessons!) and other sports taking up most of my non-school hours but I did. I was probably conscripted into rolling out the dough and ended up watching the entire process.

This recipe for a Moroccan-flavored Lasagna is not based on my mom’s recipe – I’ll try and get it when I can finally travel again to Sri Lanka – but it does build on the changes and adaptations she had to make to the Italian recipes.

For now, this is a creation of my fevered imagination, based solely on me thinking I could use Harissa (a paste made with dried chilies, garlic and some North African spices) to replace the tomato. I’m also not a fan of ricotta cheese in savory dishes – hence the use of béchamel sauce – which is common even in Italian lasagna.

I experimented on my trusty friends who gave it a thumbs up, and so here I am, sharing this with you! I trust my experimentees (I prefer not to call them lab rats) to be honest with me – they have been with everything else – so I think you can safely try this recipe. As with any recipe, you may need to tweak it to your specific preferences.

The consensus on the origin of Lasagna appears to be that it started in Italy during the Middle Ages, probably in the city of Naples. However, I have seen a conflicting claim that it actually originated in Greece. Whoever is right, Lasagna is one of the best-known and loved Italian dishes, delicious when its done right (without tomatoes, ricotta or oregano, hahaha).

In this recipe I used pre-made no-boil pasta because that’s what Patricia bought from the local grocery store, and harissa paste (much drier and more potent than marinara sauce). I had planned to make my own pasta and I will, one of these days when I’m feeling particularly confident of my abilities.

Because I used the no-boil pasta and harissa I made the béchamel sauce a little less firm by adding extra milk – which is needed for the dry pasta to cook in the pan. If you use boiled pasta (freshly made or store bought) reduce the liquids a bit. If you also use marinara sauce and ricotta then you are following someone else’s recipe so ignore this post.

The recipe uses a 50:50 blend of ground beef and ground pork breakfast sausage meat. You could use any kind of ground meat – including chicken or turkey – but note it may affect the texture and consistency so more adjustments may have to be made.

Here is the recipe for my North-African harissa-based Lasagna. Try it and let me know how it works out. If you figure out improvements let me know!

Amrita de Soyza

Not my Mama’s Lasagna

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 5 minutes mins

Servings: 8

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

Meat filling

• 4 tbs Olive oil
• 1 lb Ground beef 10 – 15% fat. If using lean beef more liquid may be needed
• 1 lb Pork breakfast sausage meat
• 1 Onion (large) chopped
• 1 lb Frozen peas & diced carrots thawed
• 4 cloves Garlic finely sliced
• 150 grams Spicy Moroccan Harissa I used the bottled kind from a grocery store
• 20 leaves Basil or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 cup Broth • Beef or Vegetable unsalted or low salt is best
• Salt to taste

Béchamel (White sauce)

• 5 tbsp Butter unsalted, or use salted and reduce salt added
• 1/4 cup White flour all purpose or plain
• 4½ cups Milk
• ½ cup Parmesan shredded
• Salt to taste

Lasagna pasta & construction

• 1 packet No-boil lasagna sheets sufficient for 3 to 4 layers in a 9 x 13 inch oven proof dish
• 1 lb Shredded mozzarella

Equipment

• 9 x 13 inch oven proof dish
• Large frying pan with lid
• Medium pot with lid

Method

 

Make the meat filling

1. In a large bowl, mix together the ground beef and pork sausage meat.
2. In a large frying pan, heat the oil on medium-high heat and add the onions and garlic. Saute the onions and garlic, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens.
3. Add the pork and beef mixture to the onions and using the edge of a wooden spoon or spatula break up the ground meat into small pieces . Stir occasionally to make sure the meat mix has cooked through.
4. Add 150g (half) the harissa to the meat and stir thoroughly to make sure all the meat is coated.
5. Add the thawed frozen peas and carrots, stir to distribute throughout the meat mixture.
6. Add half the basil leaves and all the broth. Bring to a light simmer, then reduce the heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer for 4 minutes.
7. If more salt is desired add now – but remember more harissa (which can be salty) will be added as will cheese which also adds salt.
8. Allow to simmer for another 2 minutes then take off the heat and allow to cool while you make the bechamel.

Make the bechamel

1. In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter on a medium heat setting.
2. When the butter is melted remove from the heat, add the flour to the melted butter and whisk until well blended – 1/2 to 1 minute.
3. Return to heat at a low setting, add 1 cup of milk and stir/whisk until the milk and flour are well blended. Add the remaining milk, 1 cup at a time, stirring/whisking until well blended before adding the next cup. At the end of this process the sauce should have a thin creamy consistency with no lumps.
4. Increase the heat to medium and continue stirring until the sauce thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a wooden spoon – about 4 – 7 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and add the parmesan cheese and stir until the cheese softens and is blended into the sauce.
6. Add salt to taste, only if needed.

Assemble the Lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 375^oF/190^oC
2. Use about 1 cup of the meat filling to line the bottom of a 9 x 12-inch baking dish.
3. Cover with a single layer of lasagna sheets.
4. Spread about two tablespoons of the remaining harissa on the lasagna sheets using the back of a spoon.
5. Spread 2 cups of meat filling over the top of the harissa-coated lasagna sheets.
6. Spread 1 cup of the bechamel cheese sauce over the meat.
7. Sprinkle ¼ lb of the shredded mozzarella over the cheese sauce.
8. Repeat the steps lasagna, harissa, meat, bechamel, mozzarella another two times. By now you should have used up all the meat filling.
9. If there is any liquid remaining from the meat filling spoon it over the lasagna now.
10. For the final, top layer cover with lasagna sheets, coat with harissa, the remaining bechamel cheese sauce, then sprinkle the remaining mozzarella on top.
11. Bake for 25 minutes (or until the cheese begins to bubble and turn a golden brown).
12. Remove from the oven, garnish with the remaining basil, and let stand about 10 minutes before serving.
13. Serve with garlic bread and a mediterranean salad. Enjoy!

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!