There is something about lasagne that is truly comforting. I think its because it has a sumptuous creamy sauce, meat, soft pasta and of course CHEESE. What’s not to love?! For my lasagne I have merged a couple of recipes together to create “My Ultimate Lasagne” This lasagne has ricotta and a béchamel sauce! I love both and so I thought why not. I will point out that there isn’t any onion in the meat sauce. My husband cannot stand onion in anything so I have omitted 1 whole yellow onion so by all means add this if you want to. I don’t feel it makes a huge difference when omitted though. This recipe is time consuming but not difficult it terms of skill. The meat sauce needs 3 and 1/2 hours to thicken and become amazing. It is so worth the effort. This would be great on a special occasion or as an indulgent treat for when you have guests or family over. it serves 8. I have divided the ingredients and methods into 4 stages, The meat sauce, the béchamel sauce, the ricotta layer and the assembling of the lasagne. I hope you like it.
The Meat sauce
Ingredients
500g ground pork
500g ground beef
680g passata
1 cup red wine
5 leaves fresh basil finely chopped
salt and pepper
Method
in a large casserole dish brown both the meats together. discard most of the fat that comes out of the meats. Next add the red wine and cook it off for about a minute. add the passata, salt and pepper and leave partially covered on a low heat for 3 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. once the sauce is ready add the basil.
The béchamel sauce
Ingredients
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups whole milk
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper
1 cup grated cheddar and mozzarella
method
add butter to a saucepan when melted add the flour whisk until all the flour is incorporated about 1 minute. slowly add the milk whilst whisking and let the sauce thicken. Add a few sprinkles of nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. take the sauce off the heat and add the cheese mix all together and set aside.
The ricotta mixture
Ingredients
1/2 cup of frozen spinach thawed (Make sure all the moisture is squeezed out)
2 cups ricotta
4 tbsp. green pesto
1 egg
1/2 cup grated parmesan
salt and pepper
Mix all together in a bowl, Set aside until ready to use
Assembling the lasagne
Ingredients
Dried lasagne pasta sheets
Mozzarella and parmesan grated 1 and 1/2 cups
Method
Preheat the oven to 180 ° C or 160 °C for fan /375 °F
ladle a spoonful of meat sauce in the bottom of a 12″ x9″ pan that is 3″ deep
place lasagne sheets on top covering the pan.
for the layers I do meat, pasta, ricotta, meat, béchamel, cheese, pasta, meat and repeat finishing with a cheese topping. I find it works best for me with the layers in this order.
place the dish in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until the top is golden brown and pasta soft.
Once out of the oven leave to stand for 20 minutes. This will allow it to hold its shape when cut, otherwise it will be very runny.
Serve and enjoy
Jess x
It tasted amazing. I’m very fortunate to have a wife who cooks so amazingly.