Feed five for under a fiver!

Check out this original spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne recipe - believe it or not, you can use it to feed five people for less than a fiver!

Recipe #1 Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne

Ingredients

• 1 bulb of garlic, we're using 3 finely chopped cloves (34p)
• 1 bag of fresh green chillies, we're using 2 finely chopped chillies (49p)
• 1 large red onion (21p)
• 1 tin of red kidney beans (19p)
• 400g of tuna (£1.79)
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes (33p)
• 1 pack of fresh coriander (73p)
• 1 pint of semi-skimmed milk (45p)
• 250g of Lasagne (32p)

The cupboard staples

We're assuming you have the following cupboard staples already: Salt, pepper, three tablespoon of flour, olive oil, two tablespoons butter and ½ pint of water.

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Tesco* where it came to just £4.85.

Instructions

1. Get a medium sized sauce pan on to the heat for a few seconds and add a few good glugs of olive oil. Then, add the roughly chopped red onions and sauté off for a few minutes until the onions are soft. Now add the chillies (seeds an' all) and the garlic - feel free to use more or less chilli or garlic, it's up you. But the stated amounts won't overpower the dish.

2. Drain the kidney beans and add to the pan along with the tuna and a good pinch of salt and pepper. Cook out for one minute on a medium heat and add the tomatoes and half pint of water and simmer for 10 minutes on a very low heat. Then set to one side adding the chopped coriander.

3. Now for the béchamel sauce. Grab a thick bottomed saucepan and add two tablespoons of butter melt down and then stir in three tablespoons of flour. Now cook out gently on a low heat for two minutes without colouring the flour to ensure the flour is cooked out.

4. Gradually add the milk over a medium heat, stirring all the time to avoid lumps. If you have lumps in the sauce don't worry too much - this is nothing a good healthy whisk won't solve at the end. Once the sauce is smooth and glossy, turn right down and simmer gently for five minutes. Season sauce with salt and pepper to taste.

5. In a medium-sized ovenproof cooking dish, pour around a third of the tuna, bean and tomato sauce into the bottom and cover with a layer of uncooked lasagne sheets, then pour remaining the sauce covering with another layer of lasagne sheets. Finally, pour over all of the béchamel sauce and cover with the final remaining lasagne sheets (slightly submerging them in the béchamel sauce so you get a nice crispy finish on the top after cooking).

6. Now bung in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes - or until nicely browned and crispy. Yum.

A bit about our Chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends for free!

Please share your feedback

If you plan to try out this recipe, please come back and tell us how it went! And if you've got any credit-crunch cooking tips for your fellow lovemoney.com readers, we'd welcome your contribution using the comment boxes below.

*Prices correct on 29th May 2009.

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