Lasagne
Makes / serves: 6 portions
Your method, with draft quantities
Method
- Make white sauce and season with pepper and a little nutmeg.
- Spread a little Bolognese in a 30x20cm dish, then build generous layers of meat sauce, pasta and white sauce.
- Finish with white sauce and cheese; ensure pasta edges are covered.
- Bake at 180°C fan for 40–50 minutes, covering if too dark, until pasta tender and centre piping hot.
- Rest 15 minutes before cutting.
Recipe details
“Assemble with your heart; don’t undersauce.” Quantities are a generous starting point, not a rigid layer count.
Related recipes
Components and suggested sides, shown with their own batch quantities.
Bolognese
8–10 sauce portions. Use the amount specified in the main recipe.
- 1kg 20% beef mince.
- 300g onion.
- 150g carrot.
- 150g celery.
- 5–6 garlic cloves.
- 100ml whole milk.
- 70g tomato purée.
- 200ml red wine.
- 500g passata.
- 400g tinned tomatoes.
- 500–750ml beef stock.
- salt and pepper.
- Fry mince in batches until really brown and crisp, not grey; remove.
- Finely process onion, carrot and celery in 2:1:1 ratio.
- Soften in some retained beef fat.
- Add garlic 1 minute, return beef, add milk and reduce until sizzling again.
- Add purée for 1 minute, wine and reduce until its raw smell has gone.
- Add tomatoes, passata and enough stock for a loose sauce.
- Cook covered at 120°C conventional for roughly 6 hours; check every 90 minutes, skim excessive fat and add liquid if drying.
- Uncover near end if too loose.
White Sauce
About 600g sauce. Use the amount specified in the main recipe.
- 50g butter.
- 50g plain flour.
- 500ml whole milk.
- pepper.
- pinch nutmeg.
- salt to taste.
- Melt butter, stir in flour and cook gently 2 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in milk until smooth.
- Simmer gently 5–8 minutes, stirring, until thick and flour taste gone.
- Season with pepper and nutmeg; salt according to intended cheese or filling.