Lasagne

Love and cheese is all you need for this delicious recipe. One of my favourites.

A very good friend of mine from work, Clem, who I regularly refer to as my work-wife, had dinner at my house once all the way back in 2022 and I made lasagna. She pestered me for the recipe nigh on constantly despite my telling her there really wasn’t a recipe and I just sorta winged it every time. The woman is stubborn! Eventually after much nagging and many puppy dog eyes, I made notes of what I’d done the next time I made lasagna. She now claims to be jealous that everyone else “just gets to see the recipe”…

For the white sauce:

• ~50g butter

• ~4TBSP plain flour

• ~2pints full cream milk

• Handful grated cheese

• Teaspoon wholegrain mustard

• Salt

• Pepper

• Chili flakes

• Mixed herbs (dry)

• Garlic granules (dry)

Put the butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and stir until melted. Add the flour (you may need some extra) and whisk until it forms a thick roux. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking to prevent any lumps. Continue whisking over the medium heat and add the mustard and spices. Whisk until the sauce begins to thicken then whisk through the cheese and continue until the cheese is melted and the sauce is thick and smooth. Take off the heat and set to one side.

For the meat sauce:

• 1 large red onion finely diced

• Half a pack of smoked streaky bacon

• 1-2 large carrots, peeled and finely grated

• 500g 12% fat beef mince

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes or ~400ml Passata

• Decent squirt of tomato sauce

• Few chopped fresh tomatoes (optional)

• Salt

• Pepper

• Mixed herbs (dry)

• Chili flakes

• Garlic granules (dry)

• ~1.5 tsp smoked paprika

• ~2 tsp sugar (to taste)

In a heated frying pan, brown the mince and then put aside on a plate. In the same pan add about a tbsp olive oil and the diced onion. Fry at a medium heat until softened and caramelised then add the bacon and fry while stirring for a few minutes. Next add the grated carrot and stir until softened. Then add the browned mince and all the tomatoey bits. Stir until combined and bubbling. Then add all the spices and sugar to taste. Leave to simmer on a very low heat for ~10-15mins.

Assemble and cook:

Lightly oil an oven-proof dish that is about 30cm x 20cm or thereabouts. Start with a largeish spoon of the white sauce, just covering the bottom of the dish. Place a layer of lasagna sheets on top. Then spoon a decent layer of the meat sauce on top of the pasta and on top of that, a nice layer of the white sauce. Repeat until you run out of sauces or space! Make sure you finish with a layer of white sauce and a sprinkle generously with grated cheese.

Bake at ~190 C for 45-50mins until golden and bubbly on top!

Leave to rest for 5-10mins until serving and eating - it’ll be KAK hot!