My italian food for new mums contain all the essential ingredients you'll need after giving birth. Beef Lasagne freezes well, too, so why not cook itin the weeks leading up to your due date and put them in your freezer?

Iron stores tend to be low after giving birth so it’s a good idea to include some recipes with red meat like this delicious lasagne. Red meat provides the best and most easily absorbed source of iron. It’s a good idea to double up on the quantities and this should make four smaller sized lasagnes so that you can eat one and freeze the other three.

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, crushed
½ red pepper, cored, de-seeded and chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
450g / 1lb lean minced beef
½ tsp mixed freeze dried herbs
1 X 400g tin chopped tomatoes, drained
1 X 295g (10 oz) can of Campbell’s condensed cream of tomato soup
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Cheese Sauce

50g / 2 oz butter
40g / 1 ½ oz flour
460 ml / 16 fl oz milk
a generous pinch of ground nutmeg
50g / 2 oz Gruyere cheese, grated
25g / 1 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

9 sheets fresh or no pre-cook lasagne

Method:

Pre-heat the oven to 190C/275F/Gas 5.   Heat the oil in a large saucepan and sauté the onion, garlic and red pepper until softened.  Add the beef and the herbs and sauté until the beef has changed colour. Add the remaining ingredients and cook over a medium heat for 15 to 30 minutes.  Season to taste.

Meanwhile, to prepare the cheese sauce, melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk, bring to the boil and whisk until thickened and smooth. Season with nutmeg and a little salt and pepper.  Remove from the heat and stir in the grated Gruyere cheese until melted.

To assemble the lasagne, spoon a little of the meat sauce on to the base of an ovenproof dish 28 X 17 X 7 cm (11 X 6 ½ X 2 /4 in).  Cover with three sheets of lasagne. Divide the remaining meat sauce in half and cover the lasagne with half of the sauce.  Spoon over a little of the cheese sauce.

Cover with three more sheets of lasagne and cover with the remaining meat sauce. Again spoon over a little of the cheese sauce but make sure that enough remains to completely cover the top of the lasagne.  Arrange the remaining sheets of lasagne on top and then spread over the remaining cheese sauce so that the lasagne is completely covered. Sprinkle over the Parmesan cheese and cook in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.

Information:
MAKES 6 PORTIONS

Suitable for freezing