Classic Lasagne

Finally I am sharing my absolute ultimate favourite classic lasagne recipe that I have made millions (…well maybe not quite millions!) of times! It’s seriously delicious. Lots of layers of silky egg pasta, rich tomato-y meat sauce, slatherings of olive oil béchamel and a generous topping of cheese baked into a crispy-on-the-edges luscious-on-the-inside lasagne.

One thing I love making is olive oil béchamel. I don’t often have butter in my fridge but always always always have extra virgin olive oil so this is the perfect substitute. I really love my béchamel to be quite runny. I don’t like thick, claggy béchamel so I generally aim to make it with a consistency like thin pancake batter. I always love adding a generous grating of fresh nutmeg, but you can always omit this if you prefer. And I only spread the béchamel into two layers; one mid-way through and one on top before the cheese. But you can spread it out into more layers if you like, it’s up to you!

The key to any great lasagne in my opinion is *nailing* the sauce. For me, it’s got to be rich, thick and chunky. Because of this, I like to sauté the onion, carrots and mince until they begin to caramelise and brown. It’s so important to continue sautéing until you get this happening, because otherwise you end up adding the tomato sauce/passata and kind of boiling everything in it, rather than using the tomatoes to enrich the caramelisation and lift all the browned bits off the pan. Another key to making an amazing sauce, is always adding a generous splash of wine. You can use either dry white wine for a lighter flavour or a dry red wine for a deeper, richer flavour. I generally just use whatever I have in the house but do love a red wine sauce for Winter.

I love making a big tray and freezing slices for dinner later in the week or saving them in the fridge for lunches the next day. I think it might even taste better the next day!

When you’re ready to serve, to save your slices falling apart, make sure you rest your lasagne for around 10 minutes. It won’t go cold or cool down, but it will suck up all those delicious juices that are bubbling along the edges and make your lasagne slices firmer when you serve them.

I hope you guys enjoy this, it’s a personal favourite of mine! Mel x

Classic Lasagne

Serves 8

Ingredients for sauce:

400g pork and veal mince (50/50 mix) or beef mince

2 jars (400g per jar) of Napoletana sauce or passata

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 red onion, peeled and diced

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup continental parsley, chopped

1 large carrot, diced

1/3 cup dry red or white wine

Salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Ingredients for olive oil béchamel:

1 heaped tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 heaps tbs plain flour

1 and 1/2 cup full cream milk

1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Nutmeg to taste

Pinch of salt

Other ingredients:

1 - 2 cups mozzarella, grated OR 1 - 2 large balls (depends how big the cheese balls are) of 'fior di latte' or fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced

1 - 2 pkts egg lasagne sheets (I use Barilla's which are fantastic)

Method:

To make the sauce: Place olive oil, onion and carrot into a large heavy based saucepan and sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes until onion begins turn translucent. Then add garlic and sauté another 5 minutes.

Add mince and break up into chunks, but don't pulverise it, keep the mince quite chunky. Sauté until the mince browns and caramelises. It's ok if it begins to stick on the pan.

Add wine and stir, picking up all the caramelised bits that may be stuck to the pan using your wooden spoon. Once bubbling has subsided, add napoletana sauce or passata and stir.

Reduce to the lowest heat and simmer for at least an hour, until the oil rises to the top. See the picture above.

When sauce is nearly finished, preheat oven to 180C fan-forced.

To make béchamel: In a small saucepan, add olive oil and flour on medium heat. Mix together with a spoon until it begins to simmer, this will cook the flour.

Then add 1/4 cup of milk at a time, and use a whisk to combine. Continue whisking while heating, the béchamel will begin to thicken. When the béchamel has a consistency of pancake batter, add another 1/4 cup of milk and whisk again.

Repeat this step until all milk is added. Then add nutmeg, parmesan and salt and whisk to thicken one last time to resemble thin pancake batter. Remove from heat and set aside, the béchamel will continue to thicken slightly.

To assemble: Use a ladle to spoon some meat sauce onto the bottom of an oven proof baking dish. Layer dry lasagne sheets without overlapping. Ladle more sauce spreading out evenly over the lasagne sheets, then add another layer of them. Repeat this until sauce is finished, making sure to add béchamel to the middle and final top layers.

Sprinkle or place cheese evenly on top of final béchamel and sauce layer.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until the cheese is golden.

Rest for 10 minutes, then slice and serve.