Beef and tomato sauce

• Ingredients
• For beef and tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1¼ teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ghee
• 500g grass-fed beef mince (1.1 lb.)
• ⅔ cup dry red wine
• 3 garlic cloves, finely diced chopped
• ⅔ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅔ teaspoon sweet paprika
• 3 cups tomato passata
• For the lasagna layers
• 1 large parsnip, peeled and sliced thinly
• 1 large eggplant, sliced into 1 cm-thick disk (1/2 in.)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 5 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons ghee
• ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 5–6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced vertically into thin ribbons
• 1 ½ cups ricotta cheese (optional)
• 2–3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
• Cherry tomatoes to garnish

How to cook Recipe

Heat oven to 180°C (355°F). Place a layer of parsnip slices with a little ghee in a deep lasagna tray and pre-bake in the oven for 15 minutes,

this will help to soften them slightly before we build the rest of the layers. Set aside

To make the sauce, heat 2 tbsp of olive oil and sauté onion with a pinch of salt for 5-8 minutes, until slightly caramelised.

Add 1 tsp of ghee and bring the heat up to high. Break the beef mince and add to the frying pan.

Use a spatula or a potato masher (my little trick) to stir and break the mince apart into small pieces, as it tends to clump together during cooking.

Cook for about 5–6 minutes, until browned.

Add red wine, garlic, pepper, paprika and salt to cooking meat and fry for a further 3-4 minutes. Add tomato passata, bring to boil and turn the heat down to simmering temperature.

Cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sprinkle eggplant slices with sea salt and set aside for 10 minutes to draw out some of the juices.

Rinse and pat dry. Heat the oven back to 180°C (355°F).

In another frying pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil and 1 tsp ghee. Fry the eggplant in batches for 2-3 minutes on each side, until light golden brown. Add more olive oil and ghee as you go along.

Set aside, by this stage all our layer ingredients should be ready.

Take the baking tray out of the oven and start layering