Recipe: Red Pesto Turkey Lasagne

This is the first recipe that i've made so far with the frozen turkey mince I got from Bernard Matthews at Christmas. I was a bit nervous as the mince looked a little unusual, but this recipe is absolutely delicious! So much flavour- don't believe people that say turkey is tasteless, they obviously haven't tried this recipe yet, haha!! In terms of lasagne recipes it's also pretty easy to make too. Main problem i have is lasagne sheets sticking together, but to get away from that problem, either use loads of olive oil to stop em from sticking, or alternatively, use those ready-cooked fresh lasagne sheets from the supermarkets. Quite a lot of cheese on top I suppose, but at least the lean turkey lowers the fat levels a bit!!

Red pesto Turkey Lasagne (serves 4)

Lasagne
8 lasagne sheets
2 tbsp olive oil (plus extra for lasagne sheets)
1 white onion, diced
½ tsp garlic salt
½ tsp herbs du provence
400g turkey mince
1 tbsp tomato puree
100g finely diced chestnut mushrooms
1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
100ml beef stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp Worchester sauce
Salt and pepper to taste
100g grated cheddar

White sauce

50g butter
40g flour
500ml semi-skimmed milk
90g tomato pesto
Salt and pepper to taste

1.     Preheat the oven to 180C. Cook the lasagne sheets until soft. Drizzle them with olive oil (to stop them from sticking together) and set aside.

2.     Fry the onion, garlic and herbs in the oil for 5 minutes. Increase the heat, and add the turkey and tomato puree, and fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the pepper and mushrooms and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes, stock, and Worcestershire sauce, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.     Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Melt the butter, stir in the flour, gradually add the milk, and then stir in the pesto. Cook until you have a thick sauce, season to taste, and set aside.

4.     First, put half the mince into the bottom of a dish. Layer with 4 of the lasagne sheets, and then top with the other half of the mince, and half of the white sauce. Add the other 4 lasagne sheets, top with the rest of the white sauce, scatter with grated cheddar, and bake in the oven for 25 minutes. Serve!