Diet Lasagna
8 servings
60 minutes
Diet lasagna is an elegant take on the classic Italian dish, combining the tenderness of homemade pasta with the richness of Bolognese meat sauce and aromatic notes of basil and garlic. The origins of lasagna trace back to medieval Italy, where it became a symbol of hearty and comforting dinners. This version, free from traditional creamy and buttery additions, retains all flavor nuances while remaining light and nutritious. Each layer is infused with a rich blend of three sauces—tomato-meat, creamy béchamel, and refreshing basil-garlic. Baked to a golden crust, it surprises with its velvety taste and delicate pasta texture. A wonderful choice for those who want to enjoy Italian cuisine without overloading their diet with excess calories. Perfect as a cozy family dish or a striking alternative to traditional lasagna.
1
In this recipe, everything is prepared by hand from start to finish. Let's start with the sheets for lasagna. Knead the dough from two eggs, a pinch of salt, and about 2 cups of flour. Add the flour gradually and watch the consistency of the dough; it should be elastic but not too hard as it will be difficult to roll out. Next, you need to roll out the dough very thinly using a pasta press or a rolling pin. Cut the rolled-out dough into strips 6–7 cm wide and dry them; you can do this in an oven with an open door or simply in fresh air, although this will take more time.
- Wheat flour: 2.5 glasss
- Chicken egg: 2 pieces
- Salt: to taste
2
The next step is to prepare the sauce. For the Bolognese sauce, pour 100 ml of water into a pan and add chopped garlic (4 cloves) and onion, followed by ground beef.
- Garlic: 8 cloves
- Onion: 2 pieces
- Ground beef: 400 g
3
Sauté everything on low heat. When the minced meat changes color, add diced tomatoes. Cook until ready, season with salt and spices to taste, and at the end add finely chopped basil to the sauce. The sauce is ready.
- Tomatoes: 3 pieces
- Salt: to taste
- Spices: to taste
- Basil: 1 bunch
4
The second sauce for lasagna is béchamel. For this sauce, prepare milk in advance. Specifically: boil the milk, add 6 bay leaves and a few allspice berries, and let it cool. The bay leaves and allspice will give the sauce a unique spicy aroma.
- Wheat flour: 2.5 glasss
5
Strain the milk. In a saucepan, dry 2 tablespoons of flour and gradually pour in the milk while stirring vigorously to avoid lumps. Cook the sauce until it reaches a thick sour cream consistency. Add salt to taste and remove from heat. The sauce is ready.
- Salt: to taste
6
The third sauce is basil-garlic. To prepare this sauce, you need a bunch of basil, 4 cloves of garlic, and 100 ml of water. Put all the ingredients in a blender and blend into a paste. The sauce is ready.
- Basil: 1 bunch
- Garlic: 8 cloves
7
Start boiling the lasagna sheets: dip the sheets in boiling water and cook for 4-5 minutes. Place a container with ice water next to the boiling water and transfer the cooked sheets into the ice water. This is necessary to keep the sheets flexible and prevent them from tearing when assembling the lasagna.
8
Only grating the hard cheese is left.
- Hard cheese: to taste
9
Finally, all the preparatory work is done and we can assemble the lasagna. Spread 2-3 tablespoons of béchamel sauce on the bottom of a high-sided baking dish, then layer sheets on top, followed by Bolognese sauce, béchamel, basil-garlic sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese. Repeat with more lasagna sheets and the previous step - Bolognese, béchamel, basil-garlic sauce, grated cheese.
- Hard cheese: to taste
10
Spread only béchamel sauce on top of the lasagna and generously sprinkle with grated cheese. Optionally, you can garnish with olives.
- Hard cheese: to taste
11
Just bake the lasagna in the oven, but it won't take long — 7–8 minutes at 200 degrees for the cheese to melt. Remove from the oven and let it cool slightly.
12