Since the Middle Ages it’s been a staple of basic Italian cuisine, thrown together with simple ingredients including sheets of pasta and beef ragu.
Now a junior doctor has made it to the finals of Jamie Oliver’s latest cookery show using lasagne recipes inspired by chicken curry, fish and chips – and traditional Christmas dinner.
Sarah Wordie, 26, from Aberdeenshire, has impressed the celebrity chef and the judges of The Great Cookbook Challenge.
She said: “I entered on a whim as a bit of a joke and I didn’t think my lasagne would be a hit. I got whittled down to the final 18 and now I’m in the final six, so it has been a bit of a whirlwind.
“I didn’t even tell any of my family about it. I just went off and did it. They’re all quite shocked that I’m on the telly.
“A lot of my competitors were high-end chefs who run restaurants, so I felt very inferior during the initial heat rounds.”
Viewers who tune in to the final’s first of six knockout rounds tomorrow night will see Sarah cook two lasagne dishes, including the festive recipe she hit upon as a student.
She said: “I lived with a group of girl medical students and we were hosting a Christmas dinner party when I realised I forgot to buy the turkey and could only get turkey mince.
"That’s when I had a lightbulb moment that I could make a turkey Christmas dinner lasagne. I layered it up with the Brussels sprouts, chestnuts, cranberry sauce and stuffing. It was a big success.”
Sarah, who works at Edinburgh Western General hospital, has had the thumbs-up from Jamie after he sampled her meals at his HQ in London, where the show is filmed.
She added: “Jamie said I was on to something with lasagne-based dishes. He thinks there is a gap in the market for a lasagne cookery book.”
The show’s winner will land a publishing deal with Penguin.
Sarah said: “There are so many things that can be made into a lasagne that people need to know about and enjoy.”
