Camp oven Lasagne

Another recipe I have been thinking about for a while, lasagne in the camp oven. I made this in a disposable foil tray & placed it in the oven on a trivet, it only just fit. This is a healthier version of a lasagne, "stealth health" as Mat calls it. Really it was more about using up some extra veggies. I also used cottage cheese instead of white sauce, I learnt this trick from my lovely friend Kelly. As with most of my recipes they can easily be adapted to add in whatever you like. You can also definitely use a standard white sauce if you prefer or even a pre-made jar if you prefer less fuss. 

This lasagne was very yummy, I got lots of "this is really good" comments from Mat even with the veggies!! We cooked the mince in a frypan over the fire, I then assembled the lasagne in the foil tray & we placed that in a preheated camp oven on a trivet for about 40 minutes, with a shovel of coals on the top & bottom. 

Camp Oven Lasagne

Ingredients

- 1 packet of dried lasagne pasta sheets

- 1 small tub of cottage cheese

- 3 tablespoons of grated Parmesan

- 1 1/2 cups of grated tasty cheese

- 1 tablespoon of oil

Mince mix

- 500 grams of beef mince

- 1 onion chopped

- 2 cloves of garlic

- 1/2 a grated carrot

- 1/2 a grated zucchini

- 4 mushrooms diced

- 1 chunk of grated pumpkin (I used about a palm sized piece)

- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste

- 1 jar of tomato pasta sauce

- salt & pepper to taste

- 1 teaspoon of a raw sugar 

Directions

Start with the mince mixture

- fry off the onion & garlic until tender in the oil 

- add in the mince & fry till browned

- add in the rest of the grated veggies & fry till softened

- add in the tomato paste & jar of pasta sauce

- add in the sugar & salt & pepper to taste 

- you might need to add in some extra water as well, you want it to be a little wet when it's done, as it has to soak into the lasagne sheets. I usually just fill the pasta jar about half full of water & swish it around to get it all out & add that in. 

- allow to simmer for 10 minutes or so for the flavours to develop. 

For the cottage cheese mix

- mix the cottage cheese with 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan cheese. 

- this is now your "white sauce"

To assemble

- spread a small amount of mince mix over the bottom of the foil tray

- add a layer of pasta sheets, breaking them to fit if needed

- spread half the cottage cheese over the top of the pasta sheets

- add another layer of mince

- add another layer of pasta sheets

- add another layer of mince

- top with the final layer of pasta sheets

- cover this layer of pasta with the remaining cottage cheese mix

- top the cottage cheese with the grated tasty cheese & the remaining Parmesan 

To cook

- place the lasagne tray onto a trivet in a preheated camp oven

- cook in the camp oven for about 40 minutes or until the pasta is tender

- remove from the camp oven & allow to rest for 5-10 minutes before serving. 

This was enough to serve 4 people. We baked it in our 14 quart Furphy camp oven. This recipe worked well. Next time I would use a large tub of cottage cheese to get even more cheesiness in the lasagne. Also make sure your mince mixture is "wet" enough, it needs to soak into & cook the pasta sheets. Overall yummy & a bit of a healthier version of lasagne. A pretty easy camping version to with the cottage cheese, the overall dish did take a while, but was very worth it.