Double Name Casserole

Ingredients

• 800 g ground beef
• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes (400 g)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 zucchini
• 1 eggplant
• 250 g lasagna sheets
• 50 g butter
• 50 g flour
• 750 ml milk
• 100 g grated Parmesan cheese
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
3. Brown the ground beef in a frying pan with some olive oil. Add onion and garlic and cook until translucent.
4. Add tomato paste, cook briefly. Add diced tomatoes and oregano. Simmer for 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Make the bechamel sauce: melt butter in a pan, add flour and stir into a roux. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Season with salt and some of the Parmesan cheese.
6. Slice the zucchini and eggplant into long thin ribbons with a cheese slicer or mandoline. Grill the ribbons briefly in a grill pan with some olive oil.
7. Take a large oval oven dish (shield-shaped). Cover the bottom with a layer of meat sauce, then lasagna sheets, then more meat sauce, then bechamel. Repeat until all is used, ending with a layer of bechamel.
8. Cover one half of the dish with a thick layer of tomato sauce, the other half with bechamel, creating a clear division.
9. Lay two ribbons of zucchini and two of eggplant across the center as family lines.
10. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese.
11. Bake for 30-35 minutes until golden and set.
12. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Serving notes

• Serve on a large oval platter so the shield shape remains visible.
• Cut carefully so the division remains visible on each plate.