Lasagna (Lasagne)

Ah, yes. Lasagna. Who doesn't like lasagna? Everyone LOVES lasagna. Well, except for that weird little boy/girl-friend you had in year 8. That shoulda' been a warning sign right there. But hey, look where they are now, right? OK...

This is a very old Italian dish that deserves to be made properly. Very probably dating back a couple of millennia, lasagna has been butchered by Jamie Oliver, tortured by Gordon Ramsay and beaten to death by every website that offers the QUICK and SIMPLE methods of cooking it. But it's really not a complicated recipe. You do need to relax and take your time however. It should take about 3-5 hours to get to the actual baking part. And that's OK. Just enjoy the process.

Three important notes:

1). Please DO make the tomato sauce recipe HERE) because this contains all of the herbs and spices that make this recipe so special. This is where you need a 5 hour prep unless you already have this sauce in the fridge/freezer.

2). You don't have to make your own chicken stock--that's just for the perfectionists. You can just mix a stock cube in boiling water, add some dried thyme and let it sit for a few minutes.

3). If you haven't made pasta sheets (lasagne) before then please, take this opportunity to try it and you will be rewarded for your efforts.

Ingredients

• For the Bolognese:
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 500g minced beef
• 500g minced pork
• 100ml white or red wine
• 600ml Tomato Sauce (Recipe HERE) <--IMPORTANT!
• 200ml beef or chicken stock
• 200ml fresh whole milk
• salt and pepper to taste
• For the Bechamel:
• 100g all purpose flour, sifted
• 100g butter
• 1 lt fresh milk
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 tsp nutmeg, grated
• 1 tsp Sugar
• For the Pasta:
• 500g Lasagne sheets
• To Combine:
• 450g Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 400g Cheddar, grated
• 100g Pecorino or parmigiana reggiano, grated

Method

1. Make the Bolognese (2-3 hours):
2. Fry onions, carrots and celery in a little olive oil until they soften.
3. In a separate pan fry the minced meat in heated olive oil over a medium heat until it begins to brown and then add the vegetables.
4. Add the wine and continue stirring. When the alcohol has evaporated, add the Tomato Sauce (Recipe HERE) and the stock (Recipe HERE).
5. Lower the heat and leave to simmer partially covered for at least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Add the milk, stir and continue to let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes.
8. If you think the sauce is too liquidy you can remove the cover completely till it reduces. But if you are using fresh or uncooked pasta the sauce needs to be a little liquidy.
9. Make the Bechamel:
10. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, incorporate the sifted flour and mix everything with a whisk until you have a paste (roux).
11. Cook the roux until it is golden, and at this point add the milk a little at a time, plus a pinch of salt, nutmeg and the sugar. Continue to stir until the sauce reaches the consistency you want.
12. Cook the Pasta:
13. If you are using dried pasta sheets, partly cook them in boiling salted water per packet instructions. Otherwise do not cook your fresh pasta (be sure to leave extra liquid in the bolognese--see above).
14. To Combine:
15. Butter a rectangular baking dish and spread a little sauce on the bottom. Make a layer of lasagne sheets and cover them with a layer of sauce, some bechamel and a sprinkling of grated cheddar cheese.
16. Then layer: Pasta, bolognese, bechamel, cheddar... and so on until the ingredients are used up--EXCEPT for a sneaky MIDDLE layer of Mozzarella.
17. Add bechamel for the final layer, top with grated Pecorino or Parmigiana Reggiano and some butter flakes.
18. Bake your lasagne in a preheated oven at 180c for about thirty minutes.
19. When the surface is golden and the pasta is cooked (check using a fork) remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. If using uncooked pasta it's a good idea to cover the dish with aluminium foil for the first 15 minutes otherwise the top may burn before the pasta is cooked through. Garnish with fresh basil leaves if you like.