Lusciously Good Lasagna
Prep time: 20 mins | Cook time: 1:45 mins | Makes: 12 serves
Ingredients
Meat Sauce:
- 1 tbsp of olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic cloves, minced
- 700g of ground beef mince
- 300g of ground pork mince
- 700g of Passata
- 200g of Perino cherry tomatoes
- 3 heaps tbsps of tomato paste
- 2 beef or vegetable bouillon cubes, crushed
- 1 tsp of Italian herbs
- 1/2 tsp if sugar, (if desired)
- Salt and pepper, to your taste
Parmesan White Sauce:
- 4 tbsps of butter
- 1/4 cup of flour, all purpose or plain
- 3 1/2 cups of milk
- 1 cup of fresh shredded parmesan
Lasagna:
- 375g of fresh lasagna sheets
- 500g of fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 tbsps of finely chopped fresh parsley
If you're looking for the best lasagne on the internet then you might have just found it.
Better than your mum's (tough call, we know), this lasagne is full of layers of rich meat sauce and creamy, cheesy sauce that'll have you licking your knife and fork, your plate and anything else that might have some delicious remnants on it.
The best part? You can cook it in the morning when you're feeling perky and energetic after you've just gotten the recommended 8 hours sleep (wishful thinking maybe?) so you can avoid having to drag yourself off the couch right when you could go for a late afternoon nap because you have to start making dinner.
The secret is to store the lasagne in a Glasslock container either in the fridge or freezer until the time comes to preheat the oven and pop it right in! It doesn't get much easier than that.
Method
Meat Sauce
Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat before adding in the onion, celery and carrots, then cooking for 8-10 minutes, or until everything's softened. Add in the garlic and sauté for roughly a minute until it's nice and fragrant.
Add the beef and pork to the mixture and cook it while starting to break it up using the end of your wooden spoon until it's browned.
Add the Passata, diced Perino tomatoes, tomato paste, crushed bouillon and the Italian herbs to the mixture. Mix it well to combine everything and bring it to a gently simmer before seasoning it with the desired amount of salt and pepper. You can also use sugar if it's needed.
Cover this and cook it for about 20-30 minutes, occasionally stirring, until the sauce has thickened up slightly and the meat is super tender.
Parmesan White Sauce
In another large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once done, remove it from the stovetop and add the flour, whisking it for about 30 seconds or until it's blended.
Place the pot back onto the stove and reduce the heat to low. Slowly whisk in 1 cup of milk until everything's combined. Once that's done, add the remaining milk in 1 cup increments, mixing after each addition until all of the milk is used and the sauce is free from lumps.
Increase the heat back up to medium and continue cooking the sauce, stirring it occasionally until it thickens which should take around 6-7 minutes (it should coat the back of your spoon).
Add in the parmesan cheese then remove it from the heat before seasoning it with salt and pepper and mix until the newly added cheese is melted through.
Side note: if the sauce is too thick, add a little more milk until it turns into a creamy consistency.
To Assemble
Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Spoon about 1 cup of the meat sauce onto the base of a large baking dish, then cover it with lasagna sheets. Layer it with 2 cups of the meat sauce (or enough to cover the pasta), 1 cup of the white sauce and half of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat the layers, leaving the remaining cheese for the top of the lasagna.
Pour the remaining meat sauce and white sauce over the last layer of lasagna sheets and top it with the remaining mozzarella cheese & we like to pop a little more parmesan on the top. Bake this for 25 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbly.
Garnish it with fresh parsley and either let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving it up or leave it to cool down then place into the fridge or freezer ready for later.
Image and recipe via Cafe Delites
