DOUBLE LAZY LAYERED MINCE BAKE
So, my daughter asked me why I called it a “double lazy” bake. Firstly, I didn’t pre-prepare a single thing. Even the pasta was raw. The furthest I went on the prep side was to defrost lean beef mince. Secondly, I used only store-cupboard and freezer ingredients. When I buy those big blocks of cheese I immediately split them in four, grate it and freeze portions. So I always have grated Cheddar on hand.
- 400 g raw macaroni
- 400 g lean beef mince
- 400 g Italian tomatoes (1 tin) (or a tin of tomato and onion)
- 375 ml bolognese sauce (1 glass pot)
- 375 ml water
- 10 ml brown sugar
- 10 ml salt (you’re salting the pasta and the mince)
- 5 ml pepper
- 5 ml Italian herbs
- 200 g Cheddar cheese
- 1 wheel Feta cheese
Preheat the oven to 180 °C (160 °C, if you have a fan oven).
Place the raw pasta in an ovenproof dish. Top with the mince. Top with the Italian tomatoes. Empty the pot of bolognese sauce onto the dish and use a tablespoon to spread it out evenly over the dish. Fill the glass pot with cold water, close the lid, shake it up a bit so that you don’t loose any of the delicious sauce and add this water to the pasta, mince and tomato. Season with salt, pepper and herbs. I’m not telling you how to live your life. Use as little or as much seasoning as you want. Heck, you can even add some garlic if you feel like it.
Place in the oven for 40 minutes.
Remove the bake from the oven, top it with the cheeses and place it back into the oven for another 20 minutes (see my Note for an alternative method).
This recipe serves four dead hungry people, or 6 light eaters. Especially if you serve it with a green salad as side dish.
Note:
If you want to assemble everything upfront (cheeses included) cover the dish with foil for the first 40 minutes of the bake, then remove the foil and let the cheese bake to a golden brown for 20 minutes.
Recipe and photo: Zita Harber
Alice van den Berg
Ek het hierdie dis gemaak gisteraand vir aandete. Ek het n man wat vol fiemies is en nie graag pasta eet. Wel hy het n tweede porsie gehad en vandag vir ete kantoor toe gevat. Jammer ek het nie foto geneem maar hierdie was beslis n vol treffer