Interestingly, I had a couple of requests on Twitter for the Lasagne recipe and it would take too long to post it there with the word count limit, so…errr…here it is!
Simple Lasagne
Ingredients
Pasta sheets
Minced meat – your choice
Finely diced onions (1 onion)
Tomato puree (In the tin, or blend up fresh tomatoes). About 50% of the volume of the meat
Oregano, garlic, salt to taste
Milk, thickening agent (flour , corn flour), butter, cheese
Oh guess what? NO AMOUNTS/QUANTITIES! lol that’s because you use your own judgement depending on the size of your…
…OVEN-PROOF Lasagne dish, or other deep dish
For the meat sauce
Gently fry off the minced meat in a little oil. The amount will be to make 3 layers of meat sauce in your chosen dish, when combined with the onions and tomatoes. use minimal extra oil when frying the meat – the meats oil should be enough!
After cooking the meat for 7-8 minutes add the diced onions and continue frying.
After a further 5 minutes, add the oregano (1 dessert spoon), chopped garlic and puree tomatoes, plus salt to taste. mix then simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally.
There – that’s the meat sauce done!
For the cheese sauce
Make a roux, if using flour, then add the milk to form a thick white sauce OR bring milk and butter (amount to taste!) up in temperature to just under boiling. then add cornflour (mixed in a little cold water)stirring continuously until the sauce thickens.
Grate cheese (cheddar is fine, if you want something sharper, try adding a little Danish Blue to the mix. or for strength, a couple of teaspoons of yellow mustard) and add the cheese into the white sauce, stirring continuously until it is all melted and mixed.
There – that’s the cheese sauce done!!
Bringing it all together
Turn off all the pans!
Spread a little of the meat sauce across the bottom of your chosen dish – you want an even layer, not too thick. It should be about a 1/3rd of your meat sauce.
Cover that with a layer of the cheese sauce. again, spread evenly, not too thick, about a 1/3rd of the cheese sauce.
Finally, place the pasta sheets across the top of the cheese sauce, completely covering it.
Repeat this another 2 times (more if you have sauces and capacity in your dish!), finishing with the layer of cheese sauce on top.
Cooking the lasagne
Pre-heat the oven to 170 degC.
Place your prepared lasagne in the centre of the oven and cook for 30 minutes.
After 30 minutes, if the top of the lasagne has not browned off slightly, increase the temperature to 190 degC and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Finally…
Take the lasagne out of the oven and let it ‘rest’ for 10-15 minutes
Serve and enjoy!
