Food with Passion: Lasagne of Love

I’ve used the same authentic Lasagne recipe for over a decade now but recently I found myself trawling through old, tried and tested recipes that for some reason or another I have not made in a long time.

Living alone, making a lasagne seems like too much for one person and I am not a fan of having the same supper night after night albeit I hate to see food wasted.

This dish feeds six people comfortably so it’s great for feeding a crowd. It can be built the day before and then popped into the oven to cook the day you are serving it.

Alternatively you can make this and freeze (uncooked) for up to a month and whip it out when you need it.

The longer the beef ragu has to cook the more the flavour intensifies and tastes better so I’d suggest making it on a lazy weekend when you have nowhere else to be but want something delicious and satisfying for supper.

I made this last weekend for my family and I’d forgotten just how delicious it is!

This is my version of authentic Italian lasagne but I am aware there are many different versions but this to me is as close as you will get to the original!

Ingredients: (Feeds 8 people)

• 450g mince-beef
• 500g tomato passata
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1/2 stick of celery
• Teaspoon of garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons of tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon freshly chopped thyme
• 2 teaspoons of dried Italian herbs
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt
• 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper
• Dash of Worcestershire sauce
• 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 10- 12 lasagne pasta sheets (I don’t make my own, but fresh pasta sheets are great here)

Ingredients:Bechamel Sauce:

800ml milk

100g plain flour

100g unsalted butter

½ teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon of ground cracked black pepper

3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese

Topping:

1 full bag of grated mozzarella

Generous grating of parmesan cheese all over

Freshly ground black pepper

Scattering of Dried Italian herbs (source from the supermarket)

Method:

 

1. Finely chop the onions, carrot and celery or pop them into a food processor and add to a large heavy past pan with the oil and on a medium heat cook them for 10 minutes. I use a cast iron casserole pan.

 

2. Add the beef, Italian herbs, fresh thyme leaves and cook until there are no remnants of pink left. Then add the passata, mix well and season with salt and pepper. Plonk in few dollops of Worcestershire sauce add the two beef stock cubes and clamp on a lid and allow to simmer for at least an hour, longer if you have the time! Stir occasionally to ensure everything is mixed well together.

 

3. Heat your oven to 170 degrees / 150 Fan. To make the bechamel sauce melt the butter over a moderate heat; add the flour and cook for two minutes whisking constantly to get rid of the taste of raw flour. Add the other ingredients to the milk in a large measuring jug and in three pouring’s add to the butter and flour mixture, whisking all the time to ensure the sauce has no lumps and until it is nice and thick.

 

4. You are now ready to start building the lasagne. I stuck to tradition with meat sauce, followed by pasta, then bechamel sauce; repeating until you have no meat sauce left. The finish with a final layer of pasta sheets, remaining bechamel sauce and adorn with the grated mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Cover in foil pop into a preheated oven at 170 Degrees fan for 40 – 45 minutes. Remove the foil and leave to bake and brown for another 15- 20 minutes until it’s slightly scorched in parts and bubbling! Leave to stand for 20 – 30 minutes before diving in and trying to cut into portions; it will adhere better and won’t fall apart on you once left to stand but will still be piping hot inside.

This freezes really well and is great for batch cooking. You can get ahead and build the lasagne the day before.

If doing so I would add another 15 minutes to the initial cooking time in the oven to allow it to cook through.

Serve with a simple side salad, home-made fries / potato wedges and listen to all the Emmmmmm and yummmmmm sound effects at the dinner table – then you know the little bit of effort was worth it!

Next week another firm favourite my White Chocolate Cheesecake with ginger nut biscuit base!