Easy Lasagne Recipe

This recipe layers homemade meat and cheese sauces to create a delicious lasagne.  There is some preparation and cooking time required to make both sauces but both are straight forward to make and the end result is well worth it.

You can vary the quantities to make a larger or smaller lasagne but don’t be tempted to add too many layers of pasta or your lasagne will be too dry.

Serves 6-8

Preheat fan assisted oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.

INGREDIENTS

Meat sauce

• 500g lean ground mince beef
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 20g butter
• 2 cloves of garlic crushed or finely chopped
•  1 ½ onions, finely chopped
• 4 – 6 medium mushrooms, sliced 
• 1 x 800g can tinned tomatoes, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• pinch of sugar

Cheese sauce

• 15fl oz (425ml) milk
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 whole black peppercorns
• ¼ onion
• 2 oz/ 50g butter
• ¾oz/20g plain flour
• 50g grated hard cheese (mild to medium)
• salt and pepper

Other ingredients

• 6 large lasagne sheets (6 = 8 small sheets)

·        additional 20g grated cheese or parmesan to top the lasagne 

METHOD OF PREPARATION

Meat sauce

In a pan warm the olive oil, add the mince and cook through, season with salt and pepper.  Discard all of the juices and put the meat to one side.

Using the same pan melt the butter over a low heat, add the garlic and stir for a couple of minutes, then add the onion and cook through for a few minutes.  Finally add the mushrooms and season with a little salt and pepper and cook slowly until the onions and mushrooms begin to soften.  Add the meat and mix everything together.  Finally add the tomatoes, bay leaf and pinch of sugar cover and cook over a low heat for 1 – 2 hours stirring regularly.  Remember to remove bay leaf.

Cheese sauce

Gently warm the milk, bay leaf, peppercorns and onion over a low heat simmer for at least 5 minutes.  Strain the milk and discard the bay leaf, peppercorns and onion.  Cover the milk and use when ready to make the sauce.

Melt the butter gently over a very low heat be sure not to over heat the butter. Once melted add the flour and vigorously mix together using a wooden spoon until it becomes a smooth paste.  Add a little of the milk stirring constantly until the milk is fully incorporated.  Continue to add a little of the milk, stirring and mixing into a smooth paste.  This requires a little patience but is worth it, if you try to rush by turning up the heat you will have a lumpy sauce.  After you have incorporated about half the milk you can add the remainder in one go continuing to stir until the mixture maintains a constant creamy texture and glossy appearance.

Stir in the cheese allowing it to melt thoroughly.  If the sauce is a little thick stir in a little milk until it reaches the consistency of double cream.

Season with salt and pepper and stir well.

Lasagne

In the bottom of a lasagne dish (or other oven proof dish) put half of the meat sauce.  On top of the meat sauce pour one third of the cheese sauce.  Over this place enough pasta sheets to cover all of the sauce.  If there are large gaps carefully break a lasagne sheet into pieces to cover the gaps.

On top of the pasta sheets spread out the remaining meat sauce and on top of this another third of the cheese sauce and again enough pasta to cover the sauces.

Pour the remainder of the cheese sauce over the pasta sheets making sure all of the pasta is covered.  Finally sprinkle over the cheese and bake in the oven for 40-45 minutes.  If the top starts to look a little brown cover with foil and continue to cook until the pasta sheets are soft.