Cupboard Love

Tonight's dinner was one of those look-in-the-cupboard-and-see affairs. Actually, most of our meals over the last few days have been like that. I've often said before that I like this type of cooking and somethimes come up with some really good meals this way.

We fancied pasta of some sort or other and, in sorting out the kitchen cupboards, I've discovered lots of ends of packets, including an open box of lasagne that's been kicking around for ages, so I thought I ought to use it up. Rooting around for something to make a sauce, knowing that traditional Lasagne al Forno was out of the question (no beef), I happened upon a large tin of tuna in the back of the cupboard, so with a few other bits and pieces, this is what I made. I always buy the sort of the lasagne that you don't need to pre-cook but if you prefer to use a different sort, just follow the pack instructions for cooking advice. It's difficult to suggest the number of 'sheets' that you'll need, as it depends on the dish you use. I need 7 to do 2 layers in my dish, breaking one of them in half . Score it with a sharp knife first so that it breaks cleanly.

Tuna Lasagne

For the white sauce:

300ml milk

20g butter

20g plain flour

100ml double cream

Place the butter, flour and milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil, whisking all the time. Turn the heat down and simmer for a few minutes until thickened, then remove from the heat and stir in the cream.

For the tuna sauce:

1 large onion, diced

1 stick celery, diced

400g can tuna in spring water

100g frozen peas, defrosted

Heat a little oil in a large pan and gently fry the onion and celery until soft. Tip in the tuna, alomg with all the liquid from the can and stir well to flake the pieces of fish. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add the peas and 100ml water. Season with black pepper. Stir well to mix, bring the contents of the pan to a simmer and then remove it from the heat.

To assemble:

lasagne sheets (see above)

100g mature cheddar, grated

Cover the bottom of a large ovenproof dish with half of the tuna sauce, then top this with lasagne sheets. Pour over half the white sauce, then repeat the layers to use up the rest of the sauces and pasta. Scatter over the cheese and bake for 20 minutes at 180°c.

A green salad was all it needed and everyone thoroughly enjoyed it - definitely one for the repeat list!