If you’re cooking for a crowd, assemble your lasagne a day or two ahead, then keep in the fridge, ready to whack in the oven on the day.
Jamie Cooks Christmas
By Jamie Oliver
Cauliflower cheese lasagne
with easy white sauce & anchovy crumb
2 hrs 40 mins plus cooling
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serves 10
About the recipe
I’m putting cauliflower on a (well-deserved) pedestal to give this cheesy lasagne a depth of flavour you’re going to go mad for. With layers of sweet veg, silky pasta, bubbling white sauce, bombs of British blue cheese and a crunchy anchovy top, this is pure joy. Rather than making a béchamel, I’ve gone rogue and shown you how to make an easy version of a white sauce that you’re going to love.
Recipe From
Ingredients
4 large leeks (white part only)
4 cloves of garlic
½ a fresh red chilli
olive oil
½ a bunch of fresh thyme (15g)
1 cauliflower
1 romanesco cauliflower
125ml dry white wine
1 small knob of unsalted butter
WHITE SAUCE
2 litres whole milk
1 bunch of mixed herbs, such as rosemary, sage, bay, thyme (20g)
75g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
75g butter
150g Cheddar cheese, plus extra for grating
150g Lancashire cheese, such as Mrs Kirkham's
30g blue cheese, such as Stichelton
PASTA
500g Tipo ‘00’ flour
5 free-range eggs
ANCHOVY CRUMB
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
100g stale bread
8 anchovies in oil, from sustainable sources
Top Tip
I’ve made my own pasta dough, but feel free to buy the lasagne sheets ready-made, if you like.
Method
- To make the pasta, place the flour on a board or in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and crack the eggs into it. Beat the eggs with a fork until smooth. Using the tips of your fingers, mix the eggs with the flour, incorporating a little at a time, until everything is combined.
- Knead the dough for 3 to 4 minutes, until you get a smooth, pliable dough – it shouldn’t be sticky. Cover with a bowl or cloth and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Trim, wash and slice the white part of the leeks (save the tops – see tips), peel and finely slice the garlic, and finely slice the chilli. Place a large casserole pan on a medium-high heat with 4 tablespoons of oil, the garlic and chilli. Strip in most of the thyme leaves, then stir in the leeks and season with sea salt and black pepper.
- Roughly break up the cauliflowers into florets, roughly chop some of its leaves, and set aside. Finely slice and add the stalks to the pan, along with the wine and butter, turn the heat up and cook for 10 to 15 minutes, or until softened and starting to caramelise, stirring occasionally.
- Add the florets and leaves to the pan with 300ml of water. Season, reduce the heat and cook with the lid on for 30 minutes, or until softened and sweet, stirring occasionally.
- To make the white sauce, pour the milk into a large pan on a medium heat. Tie the herbs together with a length of string to make a bouquet garni, then add to the pan, tying the end of the string to the pan’s handle so you can easily fish it out later. Simmer gently for a few minutes, while you rub the flour and butter together in a small bowl.
- Remove the bouquet garni, then add the butter-flour mixture, a small piece at a time, whisking continuously until smooth. Simmer until it starts to thicken, stirring occasionally – it will thicken more once you add the cheese.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, grate and stir in the Cheddar and Lancashire cheeses, season to perfection with salt and pepper, then leave to cool.
- Preheat the oven to 170ºC/325ºF/gas 3.
- Make the anchovy crumb: strip the rosemary leaves into a blender, add the bread and anchovies, then whiz to fine breadcrumbs.
- To roll out your pasta, clamp a pasta machine firmly to a clean flour-dusted surface. Divide the dough into 4 pieces and press one portion out flat, then start to roll it through the pasta machine at the widest setting, lightly dusting with flour if it sticks.
- Click the machine down a setting and roll the dough through again. Keep rolling the pasta through the machine, working it through all the settings, from the widest down to around the narrowest until you have a long, 2mm-thick sheet of pasta, lightly dusting with flour as you go.
- Repeat with the remaining dough until you have 4 sheets of pasta.
- To assemble your lasagne, place 2 long pasta sheets into the bottom of a deep baking dish (roughly 25cm x 35cm), with the excess hanging over the side.
- Cut the remaining sheets of pasta into rectangles, roughly 7cm x 15cm.
- Add a layer of veg into the dish, followed by 4 generous serving spoons of white sauce, a crumbling of blue cheese and a layer of pasta. Repeat the layers once more, then top with the rest of the veg, most of the remaining white sauce and fold over the overhanging pasta. Top with the remaining white sauce and a grating of Cheddar.
- Sprinkle over the anchovy crumb, then bake on the bottom of the oven for 1 hour to 1 hour 20 minutes, or until golden and bubbling.
Slice and add leek tops or cauliflower leaves to casseroles and soups – they have a lovely flavour that’s well worth using.
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