Favorite recipe: Mincemeat lasagna
Shared by Grace Mutumbwa, 53, of Hatfield, Zimbabwe
This is the third in a series of recipes from AFSC constituents around the world. Check afsc.org/recipes for more.
It was in a two-week cooking class for beginners that Grace Mutumbwa first learned how to make lasagna. That was 25 years ago, and she’s been cooking it ever since.
Grace works as the Harare officer for Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Small and Medium Entreprises and Cooperative Development, a partner organization of AFSC’s Zimbabwe Livelihoods Restoration Program.
“I like the cheese and mincemeat in the recipe,” says Grace, explaining that she buys the cheese from local retailers in Hatfield, the suburb of Harare where she lives, and gets other ingredients from the stores Meat Pride and Colcom Foods.
Not only is it easy to make—it's “a very fast dish,” she says—but this lasagna is also delicious and easy to digest. “Eating it makes me happy and satisfied.”
Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 big onions
- 2 green peppers
- 1 small piece of fresh ginger
- 1 kg (2.2 pounds) mincemeat
- 5 ml (1 teaspoon) cooking oil
- Salt, white and black pepper to taste
- White sauce (butter, flour, salt, and milk/water)
- 400 grams (.88 pounds) cheese
- Five large tomatoes, diced
- 1 kg (2.2 pounds) macaroni
Directions
- Fry green pepper, onions, and ginger together
- Before they brown, add the mincemeat
- Then add the diced tomatoes and the spices
- Boil the macaroni separately
- Into a baking tray, first add the cooked macaroni, then the cooked mincemeat, and alternate in layers, ending with the grated cheese on top
- Pour in the white sauce
- Then bake at 350 F (180 C) for 30 minutes
Can be served with salad of your choice.
