It’s March 2020, a strange time. The world has slowed down. The coming days and weeks are going to be difficult for all of us. Schools and offices closed, but also no theater, no lectures, no exhibitions or other events we usually enjoy. No travel. So I asked myself if it made any sense to write articles on a travel blog in these troubled times?

However, if you have ever visited my blog, then you know that in addition to the articles about different destinations, I also publish recipes. I always try to link every recipe with a story, especially a story connected somehow to traveling. Now, when I have to (and choose to) stay at home, I have decided to pick up some of my other recipes. I think that it doesn’t matter that they are not associated with any extraordinary story, because if we look at them later, we will all know that all those recipes have one story in common: coronavirus.

Maybe someone objects that one cannot get some ingredients for one of those recipes right now. It’s possible, but I firmly believe that if one of these recipes truly interests you, you will postpone it for better times when the situation calms down.

Since we all know that the worst situation is in Italy at the moment, I symbolically start this series of recipe articles with a recipe for one of the typical Italian dishes.

Lasagna with minced meat and vegetables

We need:

500 ml milk

2 carrots, celery, leeks

2 onions

2 bay leaves

black pepper

500 g minced meat (I use a mixture of pork and beef)

1 canned tomatoes in pieces

1 clove of garlic

oil

50 g butter

50 g flour

grated Parmesan cheese

tomato purée

salt

lasagna sheets (without pre-cooking)

Method:

Spread pieces of canned tomatoes in the base of an oblong ovenproof dish. Place one onion, two carrots, celery, leeks, bay leaves and a few balls of black pepper into the milk in a saucepan, bring to boil, cover and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Chop the remaining onion and garlic finely. Heat a little oil in a frying pan, add onion and garlic and fry, then add the meat and stir until the meat is browned. Remove vegetables and spices from milk. Cut the softened vegetables from the milk into small pieces, add to the meat. Season with salt, pepper and tomato purée, add the rest of the canned tomatoes and cook for about 7-10 minutes. Spread a few tablespoons of meat mixture into the tomatoes in the baking form and spread the lasagna sheets on top. This is followed by a layer of meat with vegetables, sheets, again a layer of meat, and finally sheets again. Melt butter in a smaller pot, stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute and gradually stir in the used milk. While stirring, cook until the sauce thickens. Pour over the pasta and sprinkle the top with Parmesan cheese. Bake in an oven preheated to 190°C for 40 minutes.

Buon appetito!

Text: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri
Fotos: © Copyright Ingrid, Travelpotpourri