Lasagna

Special dinner made on Friday night to celebrate to celebrate my little boy starting school in a few weeks.

He is very excited, and now has a cool school bag, lots of stationary and new things to start this new phase in his life.

His very special favourite meal is lasagna, so I spent the day on Friday making this for him.

My Mum's side of the family is Italian, so I have been eating lasagna and various other types of pasta since before I could walk.

This recipe is my own, but the inspiration comes from my Grandmother, who loved to cook and was brilliant in the kitchen, and from my Mum, who loves to cook and is brilliant in the kitchen.

Although it takes a little while to make the meat sauce (two or three hours simmering time), making the other ingredients and assembling the lasagna is relatively quick. I usually start cooking at lunch time, and then by about 4pm, everything is done and cleaned up. You can then place the lasagna in the oven at 5.30pm for a lovely dinner.

What you'll need

* I made this lasagna in a 40cm x 30cm baking dish, which made 16 large portions of lasagna. But I suggest making a big batch, then freezing the rest in portions for later.

For the meat sauce
1kg mince, I used half beef and half pork, but you can use 100% beef if you like.
1kg crushed tomatoes
1 x 400g jar prepared tomato pasta sauce, I used olive
1/2 cup tomato sauce
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 carrots, grated
1 tbs each of dried rosemary, oregano and basil
Salt and pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil

For the bechamel sauce
250g butter
1 cup plain flour
1L milk
1 cup water
Salt and pepper

2 packets lasagna sheets, you can use fresh or dried pasta (approx 40 sheets)

400g grated cheese, I used mozzarella

What to do

For the meat sauce

Heat a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Add the oil and saute the onions and garlic until soft. Increase the heat and add the mince. Cook until all the mince is brown and make sure there are no large lumps of meat.

Add the carrot, tomato sauces and herbs. Stir well and reduce the heat to low.

Cover the pot and simmer the sauce for two to three hours, checking and stirring regularly to ensure it does not burn on the bottom. About half way through the cooking, season well with salt and pepper.

If the sauce becomes too thick and dry (like taco mince), add half a cup of water and replace the lid. If the sauce is very runny (like soup), remove the lid and continue to simmer for half an hour to reduce it slightly. The sauce should be wetter than a normal bolognaise sauce, as this moisture will cook the pasta sheets once the lasagna is in the oven.

Once the meat sauce is cooked, set aside to cool slightly.

For the bechamel sauce

In a medium-sized saucepan, over medium heat, melt the butter. Once it is foamy, add the flour, and mix very well until it is all combined with a spoon. Cook for one minute, then add the milk and water.

Have a whisk ready, and start whisking the milk with the flour mixture as soon as you start to pour it into the saucepan. Keep whisking until the mixture starts to thicken. This will take about five minutes. (Do not walk away, answer the phone or pop off to check Facebook during the process or you will end up with lumpy sauce. You must stand and whisk the whole time!) During this time, you can season the sauce with salt and pepper.

Once the sauce is thick like custard, it is ready. Remove from the heat and set aside. When the sauce cools down, it will become thicker. If it is too thick (if it does not run from the back of a spoon), you can mix some warm water into it to make it thinner.

Assemble the lasagna

Place a cup of the meat sauce on the base of the lasagna baking dish and spread it to the edges. This will stop the pasta from sticking to the base.

Place a layer of pasta sheets on top of the meat sauce. I used six sheets per layer.

Spoon approximately one to one and a half cups of bechamel sauce onto the pasta sheets. Spread to the edges. Top with half a cup of cheese. Top this with another layer of pasta sheets, 2 cups of meat sauce, more pasta sheets, bechamel and cheese, pasta sheets, meat sauce etc.

I like lots of pasta in my lasagna. If you want less, you can make it with meat sauce, bechamel, cheese, pasta, then another layer meat and bechamel etc, then pasta and so on.

When you get to the top of the dish, finish off with a thick layer of bechamel and lots of cheese.

Here is a little tip for an extra yummy lasagna. Slide a small spoon down one side of the dish, between the pasta and the side of the dish. Pour in about 1/4 cup water. Repeat on the other four sides. The water will help the pasta sheets to cook and make the lasagna mesh together better.

Bake for 40 minutes in an 180 degree Celsius oven. When the top is brown and bubbling, it is ready.

Leave to sit and settle for 10 minutes before serving. Alternatively, you can leave the uncooked lasagna in the fridge overnight and bake the next day.

I freeze any left-over lasagna (if there is any). I cut it into portions and store in an air-tight container.

Bon Appetito!