My top secret, satisfaction guaranteed lasagne recipe.
Hi Musers, We’re moving into autumn here in the UK. The trees are turning beautiful shades of brown and orange, the nights are getting darker, and the weather is getting colder. All of this makes me think of blankets and hot chocolate and nights cuddling up with my husband and my cats. It also makes me think of food! As you might have realised while reading this blog, I’m a big fan of comfort food!
I have an entire library of cookery books and I read them the same way most people would read a novel. I love to try new recipes and be transported to another country while never leaving my kitchen. One of my favourite things to cook and eat is my lasagne recipe. I’ve been making it for about 20 years now and over time if perfected it into a mouthwatering, meaty, cheesy delight. I have made it both gluten-free and meat-free and everybody still raves about it! I don’t think you can do much better than that.
Why am I sharing it if it’s my secret?
I’ve never shared this lasagne recipe before but now I’ve decided to do it for two reasons. The first is that it’s soooo lovely it’s too good to keep to myself. Secondly, the world is such a nightmare during COVID 19 I think we could all use more comfort right now. So let’s get to it!
Ingredients
- 500g Minced beef, pork, turkey or a combination of them if you prefer. If you’re making this vegetarian use 500g Quorn mince. If you do I always add a veggie stock cube to the mince to add flavour.
- 2-3 garlic cloves depending on how garlicky you like it. I like it very garlicky! I hate trying to scrub garlic from under my fingernails so I use it in a puréed tube.
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
- 1 large onion, chopped.
- 150g mushrooms, chopped.
- 150g chopped carrots. I use frozen slices which I add directly to the pan.
- 2 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
- salt, pepper, oregano and mixed herbs to taste. I normally use 7-8 good grinds of pepper, half a teaspoon of salt and a couple of each of the herbs.
- 2 teaspoons of soy sauce
- 75g tomato ketchup
- 80g butter
- 80g plain flour – gluten-free is fine if needed
- a litre of milk
- ground nutmeg
- 10-12 slices of dried lasagne. If you buy the gluten-free kind it will probably say on the box it needs to be partly cooked first. It is a nightmare doing this so I tried adding it to the lasagne raw and it was fine.
- Grated cheese for the top, how much is up to you!
I cook my lasagne in a rectangular glass dish measuring x so you’ll need something of a similar size.
My Lasagne Recipe – The Method!
The Meat Sauce
Preheat your oven to 200°C/400F/Gas Mark 6
Heat the oil over a medium heat and add the mince and garlic plus the stock cube if you’re using Quorn. Cook the mince until it’s browned, stirring regularly.
Add the onions, mushrooms, and carrots until they’re soft. You want the onions soft and not browned so if it looks like this is happening turn the heat down a little.
Once the vegetables are soft add the chopped tomatoes, ketchup, salt, pepper, mixed herbs, oregano, and soy sauce and stir it all together.
Bring the sauce to the boil, stir again and then turn the pan down to a simmer. Leave it as long as you can for the flavours to mature. When you’re ready to make the lasagne taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning if needed.
White Sauce
Melt the butter in a large, deep saucepan over a medium-high heat.
Once it’s melted and has started to bubble add the flour. I like to add it a little at a time so I can make sure it mixes to a smooth paste but if you want to add it all at once you can.
Add the milk and whisk until the flour mixture is mixed through and there are no lumps.
Bring the sauce slowly to the boil stirring all the time. As it boils it should start to thicken. Top tip! If you can’t get it to thicken as much as you’d like, add a little grated mozzarella or cornflour.
When it’s at the consistency of double cream add salt, pepper and a good sprinkle of nutmeg and stir them through.
Either pour it into a jug or you can ladle it on directly, it’s up to you.
Now we build!
I add a layer of meat first, then the white sauce and finally the pasta. I do this 3 times then end with one more layer of white sauce and finally the cheese.
If you’re good at Tetris it’ll be an asset when it comes to the pasta layer. It’s highly unlikely the pieces will fit perfectly so you’ll need to snap bits off one of the spare sheets to fill in the spaces.
I try to be a little more sparing with the meat and white sauce in the first layer to make sure there’s enough left. This is particularly important for the white sauce. You need to get 4 layers out of it and you’ll want the one covering the pasta on top to be extra thick or it can go a bit tough.
Once it’s built pop it in the oven for 40 minutes. By then the cheese should be bubbling and smell will be heavenly! I’ve somehow gotten into the habit of always having my lasagne with peas but you can pair it with a salad or garlic bread or whatever else you fancy. I get 8 generous pieces when I make it so unless you’re feeding a crowd you’ll have leftovers for lunch. You’re welcome!
Over to you!
There you go Musers, you now have my secret lasagne recipe. Promise me you’ll make it. Believe me you won’t be sorry!
