In an Italian Cooking series, "You cannot forget Lasagne". This dish is ideal for families or dinner parties and it's worth making a batch to deep freeze for occasions when cooking time is restricted.
Pair with a 2009 Chateau Peyrou Cotes du Bordeaux, a medium red from a superb year.
Preparation Time: 25 mins
Cooking Time: 40 mins
Ingredients (Serves 8):
Homemade Tomato and Basil Sauce
300g Minced Beef
Lasagne Sheets
1 Finely Chopped Large Onion
150g Cheddar Cheese
50g Flour, 50g Butter & 60cl Milk
1 Lemon
Olive Oil, Nutmeg, Salt & Pepper
Method: Bolognese
Add olive oil and onions to a pot on high gas. Cook for approximately 1 minute.
Add the minced beef and fry with the onions until the beef is coloured. This should take 1-2 minutes. Tip: Cook a lot of Bolognese and save the excess for pasta later in the week. When the beef is ready, add the tomato sauce. Cover and cook on a medium heat for 10 minutes.
Béchamel
Add the butter to a hot saucepan on high gas. After the butter has largely melted, add the flour and start to mix constantly and carefully. The trick is to keep your mix constantly moving so as to avoid burning the butter. Turn to a low-medium temperature for this. We don't|We really do not} want to turn the mix brown from cooking now. You will continuously mix so long as it is still yellow-colored, but as the mixture begins to darken in colour, begin to add your milk slowly, in phases, continuing to stir. The mixture should begin to become thick and you can increase the amount of milk should you prefer a greater quantity of béchamel. When the sauce is boiling, add a dust of salt, pepper and nutmeg. The béchamel is ready when it is a thick liquid.
Drop a small amount of béchamel into the oven dish in order that the lasagne sheets stick to the base. Then build.
1. Cover with Lasagne sheets.
2. A level of Bolognese.
3. A Coating of béchamel
4. A sprinkle of chedder cheese
Repeat.
Finally, place the lasagne sheets on top and coat with béchamel sauce. Sprinkle lemon juice over the béchamel and add a layer of cheddar cheese.
Cook in the oven at 180° for 40 minutes
Enjoy!
