Ingredients
Ragu
700g minced beef
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, squashed and diced
Tin of chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried thyme or marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
Bechamel Sauce
50g butter
50g flour
1 pint Milk
Grated Parmesan
Dried lasagne sheets (about 10)
Ragu
Heat oil in a deep frying pan, add onions and cook till soft. Add the garlic a few minutes after you start.
Turn the heat up to high and add the minced beef a good handful at a time. Stir and fry it to get it brown before adding the next handful until it is all brown.
Add tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs. Stir and cover. Reduce heat to low and simmer while you make the white sauce.
Bechamel
Melt the butter in a good sized saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, add the flour.
Stir and fry this roux for a couple of minutes - till it starts to look dry and shortbead-y
Add half the milk to the roux and stir aggressively with a whisk to remove any lumps and get a smooth but thick sauce.
Add the remaining milk and continue to whisk it to remove any lumps. It should thicken as it comes to a boil. Once it starts to boil turn off the heat.
I use a square porcelain dish about 25cm square for this
Put half the mince into the bottom and spread into a uniform layer. Place half the lasagne sheets over the top to cover it all (breaking off corners and edges as needed to ensure a good cover.
Spread half the white sauce over the lasagne and smooth out. Top this with the remaining mince.
Top the mince with another pasta layer made of the remaining sheets then spread the remaining white sauce uniformly over the top. Grate parmensan generously over this.
Place the dish into an oven at 180C (fan) and bake for around 30 minutes until golden brown.
Method
Well this was of course inevitable. Lasagne is one of those dishes that every family in the UK cooks and eats on a regular basis. Which is not to say tht it shouldn't feature here - becuse it is popular for the very good reason that it is filling and delicious, relatively cheap and can be made in advance/doesn't mind hanging around if football or dance finishaes late. An all round versatile dish.
Most people probably have their own recipe for this. I am really recording this here for the Offspring should they wish to reproduce it. Also I was shocked when the Removed Cousin said that she bought two bottles (red and white) to make her lasagne - ad that this is what counts as home made oftentimes. So here is an ab initio lasagne recipe. Takes just over an hour start to finish but is mighty tasty.
This will feed 4-6 depending on how hungry thet are. I always used dried lasagne sheets as they cook up just as well, and you can keep them in the store cupboard. There are two elements to make here - Ragu, and a white (Bechamel) sauce. Make the Ragu first then the white sauce while it is cooking. The assemble and into the oven for 30 mins or so. Not really that complicated. Grate some parmesan over the topand it is fabulously savoury and filling.