Lasagne

Making lasagne is so easy if you have made the bolognese sauce in advance. We like to double the bolognese sauce whenever we cook it which means a quick assembly of the lasagne on the day you want to eat it. Cooking time cuts down to about 45 minutes.  

LASAGNE

Prep: 10 mins
Cook: 90 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp / 20ml of olive oil
• 1 rasher of bacon, diced
• 1 brown/yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed or grated
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1 stick of celery, finely diced
• 500g / 1 lb of veal and pork mince (or beef mince/ground beef)
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste / tomato concentrate
• 800g / 28 oz of tinned/canned diced tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• salt
• ½ tsp of caster sugar
• 2 cups / 500ml of milk
• 2 tbsp of butter
• 2 tbsp of plain flour
• 150g / 5oz of lasagne sheets
• 100g / 4 oz of mozzarella, sliced
• 4 tbsp of grated parmesan

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or cast iron dish. Add the bacon and cook for 5 minutes.
2. Add the onion, garlic, carrot and celery to the pot and cook for 10 minutes. Add a dash of water if they vegetables are browning.
3. Place the [mince|ground meat] in the pot and brown, stirring continuously to break up any lumps.
4. Add the tomato paste and stir for 2 minutes to combine.
5. Add the tomato, bay leaf, salt and sugar. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for 40 minutes or more.
6. While meat sauce is cooking, make the béchamel sauce by heating the milk in a saucepan until almost boiling.
7. In a separate saucepan, melt the butter then stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring continuously.
8. Gradually add the hot milk to butter mix, using a whisk to incorporate all the milk each time before adding more. Season to taste. Place a piece of baking paper on the sauce and simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes.
9. Preheat oven to 190ºC / 375ºF / Gas Mark 5.
10. To assemble lasagne, place a quarter of meat mixture on bottom of baking dish. Top with a layer of lasagne sheets.
11. Repeat with meat, then sliced mozzarella, and lasagne sheets for another two layers.
12. Top with meat sauce, then béchamel sauce, and finally grated parmesan.
13. Place in oven and cook for 30–40 minutes. Test with a skewer to ensure the lasagne sheets are soft. Once cooked, removed from oven and leave to stand for 10 minutes before serving.

TIP
Leaving the lasagne to stand once cooked for 10 minutes makes it easier to cut.