Halal-conscious recipe
Beef lasagne without prosciutto
Classic beef lasagne with a white sauce and mozzarella, made with Halal beef mince and stock and no prosciutto in the sauce or on top.
Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.
Why Halal checks matter here
BBC Good Food's classic lasagne adds prosciutto to the meat sauce and the top, and some ragù mixes in pork; the beef and the stock are only Halal from Halal slaughter; and the mozzarella is a rennet check.
Lasagne is a meat sauce, pasta sheets and white sauce, layered and baked until the top bubbles. BBC Good Food's classic version builds flavour with prosciutto: it chops a few slices into the beef sauce and lays the rest over the top before baking. Prosciutto is cured pork, so this version leaves it out; the beef, passata and nutmeg carry the sauce on their own.
The beef needs Halal slaughter (see beef), and so does the stock: use stock from Halal beef bones, a certified cube, or plain water (see stock cubes). The white sauce is milk, butter and flour, and the only other check is the mozzarella, which should name microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet (see cheese).
Simmer the meat sauce until it is thick so the layers hold, and cover every bit of pasta with white sauce on top or the exposed edges dry out. The lasagne page covers what to ask in an Italian restaurant, where wine in the sauce is the other thing to check.
Halal-critical ingredients
- Prosciutto It is cured pork. The original recipe chops some into the meat sauce and lays the rest on top. Leave it out. See Prosciutto.
- Beef mince and stock Beef is Halal only from Halal slaughter, and shop beef stock can be made from non-Halal meat. Buy from a Halal butcher or a certified pack; use stock from those bones, a certified cube, or water. See Beef and Stock cubes.
- Mozzarella Some mozzarella is made with animal rennet. Choose one that names microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet, or one your practice accepts. See Cheese.
Safe substitutes
- Prosciutto → Nothing
- Beef stock of unknown source → Stock from Halal beef bones, a certified cube, or water
- Mozzarella with animal rennet → Mozzarella with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet
Allergens
gluten (pasta, flour), egg (fresh pasta), milk (milk, butter, mozzarella)
Ingredients
Meat sauce
- 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil, plus extra for the dish
- 750 g (1⅔ lb) Halal lean beef mince
- 800 g (28 oz) passata
- 200 ml (¾ cup + 1 tbsp) hot stock from Halal beef bones, a certified stock cube, or water
- 0.5 g (a few gratings) nutmeg, freshly grated
White sauce
- 500 ml (2 cups + 2 tbsp) whole milk
- 150 g (1) onion, halved, for infusing
- 0.2 g (1) bay leaf
- 0.2 g (2) cloves
- 50 g (3½ tbsp) butter
- 50 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) plain flour
To assemble
- 300 g (10½ oz) fresh lasagne sheets
- 125 g (1 ball) mozzarella with microbial, vegetable or Halal-certified rennet, torn into strips
Nutrition per serving
Estimated for 1 of 6 portions.
| Calories | 660 kcal |
|---|---|
| Fat | 33 g |
| of which saturates | 14 g |
| Carbohydrate | 50 g |
| Protein | 42 g |
| Sodium | 480 mg |
Calculated from the metric quantities in the ingredient list, divided by 6, using USDA FoodData Central values for each raw ingredient. Cooking losses aren't modelled and brands differ, so these are estimates, not a lab analysis.
Sugars not shown: USDA gives no figure for one of the main ingredients.
Fibre not shown: USDA gives no figure for one of the main ingredients.
Not counted: onion, bay leaf, cloves (infused in the milk, then lifted out).
Where the list offers a choice, the first option is counted.
Lean mince is counted as 10% fat (USDA 90/10 ground beef).
Stock is counted as USDA ready-to-serve broth.
How each ingredient was counted
| Ingredient | USDA food | Counted |
|---|---|---|
| olive oil | Oil, olive, salad or cooking | 27.4 g |
| Halal lean beef mince | Beef, ground, 90% lean meat / 10% fat, raw | 750 g |
| passata | Tomato products, canned, puree, without salt added | 800 g |
| hot stock from Halal beef bones | Soup, beef broth or bouillon canned, ready-to-serve | 202.9 g |
| nutmeg | Spices, nutmeg, ground | 0.5 g |
| whole milk | Milk, whole, 3.25% milkfat, with added vitamin D | 515.7 g |
| butter | Butter, salted | 50 g |
| plain flour | Wheat flour, white, all-purpose, enriched, bleached | 50 g |
| fresh lasagne sheets | Pasta, fresh-refrigerated, plain, as purchased | 300 g |
| mozzarella with microbial | Cheese, mozzarella, whole milk | 125 g |
Method
- Brown the beef. Heat the oil in a frying pan and brown the mince in two batches for about 10 minutes until browned all over. The original stirs chopped prosciutto through the meat at this point; leave it out.
- Simmer the sauce. Pour in the passata and the hot stock, add a little grated nutmeg and season. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 30 minutes until the sauce looks rich.
- Make the white sauce. Bring the milk to the boil with the onion, bay and cloves, turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes (optional, but it adds flavour), then lift them out. Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook the paste for 2 minutes. Add the milk gradually, stirring, and cook for 5 to 10 minutes until thick. Season.
- Layer. Heat the oven to 180°C (160°C fan) and oil a dish about 30 x 20 cm. Spoon in a third of the meat sauce, cover with lasagne sheets and drizzle over a little white sauce. Repeat until you have three layers of pasta, keeping about three-quarters of the white sauce to cover the top so no pasta shows.
- Bake. Scatter over the mozzarella and bake for 45 minutes until bubbling and lightly browned. The original lays prosciutto on top before baking; this version doesn't.
How this recipe was researched
Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Classic lasagne' (browned lean beef mince, passata, hot beef stock and nutmeg simmered for 30 minutes, three layers of fresh sheets and white sauce, mozzarella on top, baked 45 minutes) and its 'White sauce' (milk infused with onion, bay and cloves, then a butter and flour roux). We left out the 90 g of prosciutto it chops into the sauce and lays on top, and specified Halal beef, Halal or water-based stock and a rennet-checked mozzarella. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.
Technique and ingredient sources
-
Classic lasagne — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
Serves 6: olive oil, 750 g lean beef mince, a 90 g pack of prosciutto, 800 g passata, 200 ml hot beef stock, nutmeg, 300 g fresh lasagne sheets, about 520 g white sauce, 125 g mozzarella; simmered 30 minutes, baked 45 minutes at 180°C (160°C fan). We removed the prosciutto.
-
White sauce — BBC Good Food
Retrieved:
Makes about 500 ml: 500 ml whole milk infused with onion, bay and cloves, 50 g butter, 50 g plain flour.
-
Lasagne analysis — isithalal.food
Retrieved:
Ragù, wine and cheese checks for lasagne.