Looks may be deceiving. Case in point, this beauty! At first glance you may think it’s lasagne, and you may be sort of right.

This is my take on “lasagne sin pasta”, where I use sweet potato slices as a substitute for pasta (lasagne) sheets. It’s a mighty delicious layered dish and one that tastes even better the next day.

Who’s hungry? Vincent and I, and we definitely want leftovers. This recipe can easily feed four to six people.

Ingredients:

• 1.3 kg lean ground beef
• 200 g carrots, sliced
• 250 g thin green beans, sliced
• 100 g celery, sliced
• 1 large red onion, finely chopped
• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthways
• 250 g grated cheese (I used Gouda, but Cheddar is preferred)
• 2 tbsp butter
• 500 ml store-bought cheese sauce
• 200 ml fresh cream (or full cream milk)
• 45 ml Italian seasoning
• 1 can diced tomatoes with garlic
• salt & pepper

Prep the veggies

Cut, slice and dice the onion, carrots, green beans and celery.

Peel and slice the sweet potatoes. Keep the slices’ thickness consistent for even cooking. Mine were about half a centimetre thick.

Let’s cook

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Heat butter over medium heat in a deep saucepan or large pot and add the onions. Sauté until translucent.

Now add the mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon or spatula. Very generously spice with Italian herbs, salt and pepper.

Once the meat has started browning, add the carrots and celery.

When the meat has totally browned, add the canned tomatoes and green beans.

Mix it well and let it simmer covered for at least 20 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir periodically.

Remove the lid and let it simmer for another 15 minutes, or just until it has thickened and the tomato liquid is not too watery anymore.

In the meantime, add the cheese sauce to a small pot over low to medium heat and add the cream or milk to make it a little runnier.

Layer your dish

Get a deep oven pan and butter the insides well so the sweet potatoes at the bottom don’t stick. Then start with a layer of sweet potato. Overlap them for maximum coverage.

Now scoop some delicious mince mixture onto them.

Add a layer of cheese sauce.

Repeat the process again by adding another layer of sweet potatoes, more mince mixture and finishing off with a final thick layer of cheese sauce. Top it off with grated cheese.

Bake for 1 hour.

Grub’s up!

Dish up, garnish with a basil leaf and dig in.

It tastes really good with some hot chutney on the side.

Just look at that gorgeous cross-section!

Try my recipe for yourself