This is my version of the classic lasagne, the ingredients are authentic but it is slightly different to the normal recipe, if it helps your confidence my friends rave about it.
The recipe is in three parts, the meat sauce, the cheese sauce and then the lasagne.
Meat Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 Large Onion – Chopped Finely
- 3 Sticks of Celery – Chopped Finely
- 1 Carrot – Chopped Finely
- 1Lb or half a kilo of minced beef (as lean as possible)
- 6 oz of Pancetta or Smoked Bacon – Chopped Finely
- Olive Oil
- 3 Cloves of Garlic
- 2 Teaspoons of Pesto
- 1 Teaspoon of Dried Oregano
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 Tins of Chopped Italian Tomatoes
- 1 Carton or Jar of Passatta
- Salt and Pepper
Method for Meat Sauce:
Add enough olive oil to cover the base of a lidded frying pan and fry together the onion, pancetta, garlic, celery and carrot, as the onion starts to soften add the minced beef and fry until the meat is brown stirring often. Stir in the pesto and cook for a minute. Add the tinned tomatoes stir and cook for two minutes. Add the oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste and about half of the passatta. Leave to simmer for about an hour stirring occasionally. If the sauce starts to dry add some more passata.
Cheese Sauce – Ingredients:
- 1 Tablespoon Butter
- 1 Tablespoon Flour
- Approx three quarters of a pint of Milk
- 6oz Strong cheddar or similar cheese grated
- Fresh Nutmeg
Method for Cheese Sauce
Melt the butter in a non stick saucepan, add the flour and cook stirring constantly gradually adding the milk to make a thick sauce. When the sauce has thickened add the grated cheese and app one quarter of a nutmeg grated very finely.
Lasagne
Ingredients:
- 1 quantity of meat sauce as above
- 1 quantity of cheese sauce as above
- Lasagne sheets – cooked
- 1 Mozzarella preferably made with buffalo milk
Method
Layer the pasta and sauce in a lasagne dish until used up. Pour the cheese sauce over the mixture, add slices of mozzarella to the top and cook in an oven for app 30 / 40 mins on gas mark 4 / 5
Serve with a side salad