CORE Pasta Bolognaise Bake / Mock Lasagna

Serves: 4

Difficulty: Fairly easy

Points on Core: some for the white sauce, but minimal

This dish is best served as individual servings in ramekins or soup bowls holding 2 cups. If making a large dish, please let cool for 5-10 mins before serving.

Ingredients:

Base

• 300g of small size roundish or flatish pasta. eg elbows, penne raviolini. Large pasta like shells do not work, there is too much room for air.
• 2 eggs

Sauce

• 600g lean beef mince
• 1 onion
• garlic - 1tsp
• tomato based pasta sauce
• 2 tsp olive oil

Topping - 2 Options (both have some Points)

Option 1 - white sauce

• 1 cup Skim milk
• 3 TB of flour (1.5 point - you won't need it all)
• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard

Option 2 - grated tasty cheese

• 20g Coon Extra Light Tasty Cheese (1.5pt) for WWers, can add more for others.

Method:

Boil water and cook pasta until firm and not quite cooked (about 2 mins from al dente)
Drain and rinse well in cold water until pasta is cold. (This stops pasta sticking together) Leave to drain for at least 15 minutes
Meat layer
Heat your olive oil, add onion, garlic and mince and cook well.
Add pasta sauce and stir through. You may need to cook off some moisture - with lid off, have pasta sauce simmering away and stirring until the liquid drops a little below the solids and little bumps of meat stick make it look lumpy. Put aside to cool.
Option 1 - white sauce
If you don't have a nonstick saucepan, I suggest you do this in the microwave.
Mix flour with a few TB of water until it makes a thick paste which is more liquid than solid.
Heat the milk until it bubbles, then turn down low. Add about 3/4 of the flour paste and the mustard to the warm milk and whisk through. Simmer milk mix, strirring often until it starts to thicken - we want it to get to a consistency like cream. If after simmering for about 5 mins, it isn't thick enough, add the last bit of the flour paste and stir as it thickens.
Building the bake:
If making a large dish, you need eggs to bind the pasta (for individual serves I skip this). Whisk eggs in large bowl and toss (cold) pasta through. Pour into casserole or ramekins and push down gently with a spatula (potato mashers are great in round ramekins).
Pour over the meat layer, smoothing across the pasta
Add final layer - the white sauce or grated cheese (or both for something truly special)
Bake at 180*C for 20-30 mins until top is browned.
Allow so sit and serve with salad.