Cheap Budget Meal - Courgette Lasagne

As you already know, this year we have had a bumper crop of courgettes. This has made me try and think of many different ways to incorporate the courgettes into our meals but keeping it different so we do not get bored with it!

Everyone in our house loves lasagne. I have taken the lasagne meal and given it a twist to create this dish.

I have taken out the pasta lasagne sheets and replaced them with courgette slices.

It was a bit of an experiment, which worked perfectly and is now a meal we all enjoy to have.

This is what I did...

Courgette Lasagne

Ingredients

2 large courgettes (or 3 small), sliced (99p)

400g lean minced beef (£3)

1 onion, chopped (16p)

6 medium onions (50p)

1 tin of chopped tomatoes (31p)

1 beef stock cube

1tsp mixed herbs

300mls milk

60g mature cheddar cheese, grated (£1)

15g butter

15g plain flour

1tsp wholegrain mustard

Method

1 - Dry fry the mince until starting to brown

2 - Add the onions and mushrooms and continue to fry until the meat is browned off

3 - Pour in the chopped tomatoes, mix in the herbs and stock cube

4 - Bring to the boil and leave to simmer for 15 minutes

5 - While the meat sauce is simmering place the courgette slices in a pan of boiling water and simmer for 5 minutes to soften the courgettes slightly then drain

6 - Melt the butter in a pan and stir in the flour

7 - Gradually stir in the flour and bring to the boil, stirring continuously to prevent lumps

8 - Mix in 40g of the cheese and the mustard

9 - Using an oven proof dish spoon in a layer of the beef sauce

10 - Place a layer or courgettes over the top and pour over a third of the cheese sauce

11 - Repeat the layers finishing with a layer of courgettes on the top, pour over the remaining cheese sauce, top with the remaining cheese

12 - Place under a high grill and cook until the cheese has melted and is beginning to brown off

This meal is a great alternative to pasta lasagne sheets and perfect to use up some courgettes!

Not only is it a tasty meal, it is also a cheap meal to make!

I made this meal for just £4.97 as I didn't need to buy any courgettes. This is just 99p per serving (5 servings) if you do need to buy courgettes it is still a budgeting £5.96, that is just £1.19 per serving!

Enjoy x