Lasagne is so one of my favorite meals… in fact is there anyone that doesn’t love lasagne? Don’t answer that it, is completely rhetorical because everyone loves lasagne!!! The trouble with lasagne is that it is a lot of work and frankly by the time I am done making it I have had enough (you know tasting and all can fill a chef up!!!). It is one of those meals that always tastes better when someone else makes it… Now Hood #3 wanted to make a dinner for her friend that recently got married and I thought hhhmmm what a good time to teach her how to make lasagne. This is what she came up with:
And I breathe a sigh of relief as I now have a “live in” lasagne maker, that isn’t me!!! And frankly I don’t mind how often she practices!!!
Let’s Meet The Players:
For the meaty sauce:
- Mince
- Onions
- Garlic
- Carrots
- Celery
- A glug of red wine
- Cans of crushed tomatoes
- And toss in any fresh herbs you have on hand: Basil is best, but parsley and thyme are also good.
I write about the amount of each ingredient in the post, basically it is one onion, one carrot, one stick of celery, one clove of crushed garlic and one can of crushed tomato for each 1/4 kg (1/2 pd) of mince.
For the white sauce:
- Butter
- Flour
- Milk
- Dash of Mustard
- A small lump of strong cheddar, grated
Remember this is kitchen cooking and not exact measuring cooking… we used about half a cup of butter and half a cup of flour to a liter of milk.
- Lasagne sheets (We bought dried lasagne sheets but you can just as easily make your own)
- Parmesan to top it and some salt and pepper.
Let’s Play the Game:
- This is the step for my not so keen vegetable eater to back off. He thinks there are no vegetables in lasagne and that’s why it is so good!!! For every 1/4 kg (1/2 a pd) of mince slice one onion, thinly slice a stick or two of celery, grate a carrot and crush one or two cloves of garlic. (I have been known to add any number of vegetables at this stage – grated courgette, finely sliced cabbage,…)
- Once your onion and garlic have softened in the pan, in a dash of olive oil, you can add your other vegetables to the pan and just let them warm up and soften slightly.
- Then we added our mince to the pan and let it brown gently and with a glug of red wine we let it simmer away.
- Then we added a can of crushed tomatoes for each 1/4 kg (1/2 a pd) of mince… we used a kg of mince, so in went four cans… and once the tomatoes were stirred through, we left it to simmer away until all the extra fluid from the tomatoes were reduced away.
- Then we moved on to the white sauce… with equal parts butter and flour – about half a cup of each. First we melted the butter in a pot, and then took the pot off the heat and added the flour into the melted butter. Stir it to make a thick roux.
- Add the milk slowly to your mixture, stirring all the time – for half a cup of butter and half a cup of flour we used about a 4 cups of milk. Then put your pot back on the heat and stir continuously, if you have a heat proof whisk then now is the time to use it!!! Keep stirring until your sauce is thickened.
- Add a dash of mustard and a small amount of cheddar cheese to the sauce. You know the sauce is dine when you can make a line through the sauce with your finger on the back of a spoon.
- Pop a thin layer of the meaty sauce in a large dish, then a layer of white sauce, then a layer of pasta sheets, and repeat. And then add a layer of meat sauce and finish with a layer of white sauce…
And the se7en + 1th Step: The Construction:
At this stage you can leave it until it is almost time to eat…
Then sprinkle with lashings of freshly grated parmesan and pop into a medium oven for about forty five minutes… Till it is brown and bubbling!!! A very optimistic person thought it would serve four (!!!) But actually we served it with a yummy salad and it served twelve of us…
As well as a smaller dish on the side ready to take home as a gift…
So a substantial amount, from the ingredients mentioned… and not a drop left over – I think that may have been the delicious factor though!!!
Bon Apetito!!!
ooh yum!!!
We also love lasagna at this house, but I agree that it takes a long time! I need to remember to start the sauce early so it has time to simmer away. I have found with thyme that it is great just to chuck in a sprig or three and let it simmer away and the leaves fall off into the sauce. This saves lots of time and makes it more flavoursome! As an experienced cook you probably already know that, but it is a recent discovery for me and as a result our thyme plant is getting more use.
Posts like this are a great encouragement that someday my babies will be helping around the house. With my oldest only just two, I do almost everything for them. I am thrilled when my son puts away his toys or is able to put on his gumboots! It is encouraging to think of the time when he will be able to cook a meal for the family.
Thanks also for your post about the instructor’s guides. I am looking forward to downloading those, and can’t wait for when it is time to order the first lot of books for P 3/4.
Hay Sherrin, Happy Weekend!!! You are so entering the age of lots of help from little people and not just “help” I mean real help!!! Sweeping, packing away cutlery, sorting washing… all jobs that take time and all jobs that someone short will love doing…and feel so important for their efforts too!!! Your time is coming and so much sooner than you think!!! I think you will love the Sonlight books when you get there… kind of right up your street!!! Hope you have a fun week!!!
This looks absolutely delicious. We really enjoy lasagne too but I think, thanks to your recipe, I’m going to up the amount of tomato I usually add. Healthy and economical! This is definitely going on my meal plan for the week.
I think Hood #3 sounds like a very thoughtful (and clever!) young lady! What a lovely idea to have a lasagne gift for her friend to take home, too!
Hay S, I thought it was a pretty good idea for a gift too… that’s why I went for it!!! She knew she needed to give a gift over and above a nice picture, but she also knew to figure out something they would find useful and wouldn’t cost the world of money – I was well pleased with her!!! Hope you have a great week!!!
Oh GREAT! Now I’m going to have to go make this. It looks fabulous! There’s an 8-year old that’s about to learn to make lasagne, he just doesn’t know it.
Hay Ann, Hope your Lasagne goes well!!! What a feast, it is one of our all time favorite meals… Happy holidays!!! And thanks so much for wandering through our blog!!!
yum, yum, yum! I don’t know why I have such a thing against making lasagna – you make it look a lot easier although I do my white sauce on top of my pasta sheets.
Hay Marcia, we all love lasagne, one of my favourite meals ever. Everyone except the father person, so we save it up and have it when he is out, for a special treat. It is definitely not a meal I make everyday… because it does involve quite a lot of work… but it is always better after a long stand, if not the day after. So nice to work hard make a couple and then reward yourself with “nights off.” Thanks for stopping by, hope you have a fantastic week.