Gluten Free Lasagne

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Lasagne is a wonderful hearty dish. It freezes well and is also a great ‘make in advance’ dish for entertaining. It is a labour of love though as it takes quite a bit of time to make. However, it is not actually difficult. This recipe is great and can easily be made with Gluten or without. In this article, we explain which lasagne ingredients contain gluten and how you can easily make substitutions to make a gluten-free version.

Gluten Free Ingredients Check

To find out more about what gluten is, what gluten intolerance is, and celiac disease please refer to our article on Gluten. The article will tell you what foods do and do not contain gluten.

Pasta is made from wheat and wheat contains gluten so how do you make a gluten-free lasagne if you can’t use lasagne? Well just buy gluten free lasagne sheets! Yes, it is that simple. All major supermarkets sell it and it isn’t very expensive.

There are a couple of other ingredients that can contain gluten. The bechamel sauce is thickened with flour – flour is made from wheat, wheat contains gluten……. so just buy some gluten free flour. The other ingredients to check are the cheese you use and the tomatoes.

Although cheese and tinned tomatoes should be gluten-free, as soon as any food is processed, gluten can slip in via some of the fillers and thickeners. If you see ‘starch’ on the ingredients list then avoid it. Check the label for your tomatoes. All they should contain is tomatoes, some will also have salt, sugar, and some oil which is fine. If they have anything else in them choose a different brand. Genuine parmesan, mozzarella, and cheddar cheeses are gluten-free however if you buy the pre-grated or cheap processed versions then there could be anything in it. Check the labels carefully.

Note that genuine cheese (rather than processed fakes) is more expensive but you use less of it, it has lots more flavour and is better for you. So just don’t buy the cheap over-processed food that is masquerading as cheese. Cheap cheese is actually industrial waste processed to make it resemble real food and it dissolves your arteries. So if you are feeding your kids cheese strings and cheap cheese-covered pizzas you are serving them heart disease with every mouthful. My advice is don’t do that.

With-Gluten Lasagane

This is a brilliant lasagne recipe and you can of course make it using gluten-containing ingredients for a fantastic traditional lasagne. Just buy traditional lasagne sheets and use normal wheat flour.

Beef Sauce

The ingredients list I have given in the recipe section is quite small to keep it simple. However, I tend to throw in loads more ingredients to make it more special. You don’t have to, the simpler version will be great as long as you use plenty of herbs and garlic.

Traditional lasagne uses beef and a sweet Italian sausage – which can be hard to get. If you want to use a sausage never use chorizo or anything with smoked paprika in it – the flavour is totally wrong for lasagne.  Herby sausages work well so you can use a cumberland, bockwurst or similar. Chop it up really small and cook it with the mince.  You can use half beef and half pork mince to add a bit more sweetness and some people like to add a small amount of chicken liver. Experiment and see what mix of ingredients you prefer.

I like to add a shizz tonne of different veg – I usually use very little meat, less than half the sauce is meat, and no one notices. This recipe uses more meat so don’t be afraid to reduce it a bit and up the veg content. A good substitution for some of your beef is simply to use some mushrooms. Mushrooms have a meaty taste but don’t contain any saturated fats and they provide a huge amount of important nutrients. IN terms of other vegetables you might add; don’t use peppers in your sauce or potatoes, aubergines or any green veg as the flavour is not right for lasagne. You can use aniseed tasting veg like fresh fennel and celeriac. Carrots, chopped celery, courgette and a little parsnip are also great additions. A mixture of vegetables provide a richness and complexity to the sauce you will struggle to achieve with just mince and onions. They also provide a lovely sweetness without added sugars. Cube the veg so it resembles ‘mince like chunks’ for a better texture.

Add a shizz tonne of garlic and woody herbs. The meat sauce cooks for ages so the garlic will develop a rich, sweet flavour without assaulting anyone. Lots of garlic is really important to a good lasagne so if in doubt add a bit more. Woody herbs are also really important to add complexity. Oregano, thyme, bay leaves and rosemary are the best ones to use. I also like to use some ground fennel seeds if I don’t have any fresh fennel to hand. You want to add lots of herbs but not so many that the sauce becomes bitter.  Add some herbs, cook it a bit, taste and add more, cook a bit, taste – you get the picture!

What if my sauce is bland? After you have finished cooking your sauce taste it. If it seems a bit bland there are some easy last-minute things to try to boost the savoury flavour. Squeezing the juice from half a lemon into the sauce kicks up all the flavours without you adding any salt so try that first. If you still think your sauce lacks flavour then try adding a couple more ingredients, stir and taste until you get the balance right. Things to try; add a good shake of Worcestershire sauce, light soy sauce, teriyaki sauce or dissolved miso or marmite. All these add salt as well as a savoury kick. You can add a load more herbs, another couple of big garlic cloves (chopped or crushed) and a good squirt of tomato puree.

Vegetarian Option

It is really easy to make this vegetarian without reducing the richness of the tomato sauce. Instead of mince, you can use good tasty mushrooms. Mushrooms are very healthy and have a wonderful savoury flavour which makes them a perfect swap for beef. You can buy predried mushrooms and chop or crush them with your hands and then add them to your vegetable sauce. If you want to use fresh mushrooms their texture can be a bit rubbery for lasagne. I chop them up into small cubes and then put them on a baking sheet in a low fan oven (140c) leave them for 30 mins and check. You want the water to have evaporated off to leave firmer cubes. Keep checking them during cooking as the size of the chunks and the initial wateriness of the mushrooms will affect how long they need.

Bechamel Sauce

There are several ways to make the sauce without it going lumpy. But if you do have a lumpy sauce just use a stick blender to smooth it out.

Method 1) The slow heat. You can mix the oil, flour and cold milk together and then gently heat it in a pan until it boils and thickens. You must stir and whisk the whole time. If you don’t the sauce thickens at the bottom, sticks to the pan and burns. You need to keep the liquid moving so it cooks evenly and there is no sticking.

Method 2) The flour fry. The other method is to heat the oil on a moderate heat and then add the flour and mix. The flour and oil should slowly bubble whilst you continually stir the mixture. Do this for two minutes or so. As it cooks it will change colour from white to golden. You want deep golden – not white or brown. When you get to deep golden, take the pan off the heat and slowly add in the milk whisking all the time. When you add the first bit of milk it will almost instantly turn into a thick paste. Add a bit more milk, whisk until smooth and continue until all the milk is added.  Put it back on the heat stirring all the time until it boils and thickens.

Whichever method you used, now add the cheese and stir. You want a thickish consistency. It needs to be runny enough so that you can pour and spread it, but it also needs to be reasonably thick so it will form a nice juicy top layer and brown.  There is some trial and error here – with experience you will work out what the right consistency is. If your sauce is too thick add a bit more milk and if it is too runny you can simmer it until it thickens. Note; I have tried milk substitutes like almond or soy milk in the bechamel in my quest for a good vegan lasagne but they just don’t work. This is one recipe where you really need to use cows milk.

I like to add some extra flavour by mixing my cheese types – strong cheddar and good quality parmesan are a great combo. I also like to add either a good grating of nutmeg (the classic approach) or a good heaped teaspoon of mustard and a grating of lemon zest and squeeze of juice.  I personally think the lemon in the sauce lifts it and cuts through the richness of the cheese and meat. Taste your sauce – it should be creamy and have a nice nutty taste from your cheese. Add salt if needed, there is a lot in the cheese so might not need it. I also add pepper. If you don’t like dark flecks in your lovely white sauce you can buy white peppercorns.