Harissa lamb, butternut squash and chickpea lasagne

 Harissa lamb, butternut squash and chickpea Lasange

Serves 6
Prepare: 45 Min
Cook: 1hr 45min

 For a vegetarian alternative, leave out the meat - it's just as good. Use all the spices anyway!

Ingredients

1 medium butternut squash      25 gr fresh coriander

1 tsp ground cumin                   400 gr can chickpeas

2 tsp ground ginger                   400 gr chopped tomatoes  

2 tsp ground cinnamon              2 Tbl Rose Harissa paste [I used sambal]

 5 Tbl olive [or other] oil             1 Tbl clear honey 

500 gr lamb mince                     3 lg sprigs mint leaves (finely chopped)             

2 tsp Baharat seasoning*           375g lasagne sheets

1 sm red onion, finely diced

 

Béchamel ingredients

100 gr butter/alternative             Nutmeg, grated [I used ground]

100 gr plain flour                        1/4 tsp (!!!) grd white pepper    [I don't think so]  

1 L milk  [Skimmed works!]        70 gr parmigiano [I prefer grana pedano]

 Method

1. Preheat oven to 230ºC/ 450ºF

2. Scrub the squash (no need to peel it), halve it and de-seed it.Slice into 1cm crescents and spread onto a large baking sheet.Sprinkle over spices and drizzle with 3 Tbl oil. Mix so that everything is glossy, then arrange on a large baking sheet; use a second one rather than letting the pieces overlap. Roast for 30-35 mins until soft, blistering and beginning to char. [I think I personally would grill them.] Remove and generously season with salt flakes [or not].

3. Meanwhile, make the ragu. Add 1 Tbl oil to a large, heavy based saucepan [i.e. a Dutch oven/Le Creuset]. Once hot, add the lamb mince [or not] season generously with salt [or not], and cook for 10 minutes or so until the liquid [i.e. fat] cooks away and the meat is browning. [Or cook the fat out of the meat first so that you can discard it.

4. Stir the baharat seasoning into the lamb, sizzle for a while then push the meat into a pile on one side. Reduce the heat to medium and add onion. Finely chop coriander (optional, of course! Or perhaps use ground coriander...) and add with a generous pinch of [more!!] salt. Soften for three minutes [with cover on pot, which is called "sweating" ] 

5. Combine onions and meat, add chickpeas, chopped tomatoes plus a tomato can of water, the harissa, and honey. Simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid has cooked away but the ragu is loose enough to pour. Stir in chopped coriander leaves [or not!] and the mint. Season to taste [with what? more salt??]

6. Whilst the ragu simmers, make the white sauce by melting the butter in a medium-sized pan over a moderate heat. Add the flour and stir for about 2 mins. until "slack" [??] . Add about 100 ml milk and incorporate, adding more milk as you go along.

7. Add a finely grated [or ground] nutmeg, the white pepper, a generous pinch of salt [oh, come on!!] stirring constantly until the sauce thickens and there are no lumps of uncooked flour.

8. To assemble, spread two scant ladles of ragu sauce over the base of a large rectangular ovenproof dish (about 20x30x8 cm/4.5 ltr). Top with a layer of lasagne sheets. Arrange half the squash over them and top with 1/3 of the whilte sauce...  [The rest you can figure out yourself]. Sprinkle parmesan over the top.

9. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF. Bake 50-60 minutes until bubbling and golden on top and piping hot throughout. [I did it for 30 mins in a fan oven - and it was piping hot.] Leave to cool for 10 mniutes before serving for easier cutting and portioning.

* Baharat Seasoning:

4 parts black pepper; 3 parts ground coriander; 6 parts paprika; 1 part cardamon;
3 parts numeg; 4 parts cumin; 3 parts ground cloves; 3 parts cinnamon.

For Turkish recipes, add mint.