Description
This classic bolognese lasagna is has everything you could possibly want in your go-to lasagna recipe: a rich meat sauce, plenty of mozzarella and parmesan cheese, and a creamy, nutmeg spiked béchamel sauce.
Ingredients
Scale
For the Bolognese Sauce
- 1 tbsp Light Oil
- 1 Large Onion, finely chopped
- Large Pinch Salt
- 4 Large Garlic Cloves, crushed
- 400g (14 oz) Beef Mince
- 2 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 1 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 tbsp Golden Caster (Granulated) Sugar
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 125ml (1/2 cup) Red Wine
- 2 x 400g (14 oz) Tins Chopped Tomatoes
For the Béchamel
- 60g (2 oz) Unsalted Butter
- 4 tbsp Plain (All Purpose) Flour
- 400ml (1 2/3 cups) Milk
- Large Pinch Freshly Grated Nutmeg
For the Lasagna
- 1 x 300g (10 oz) Pack Fresh Lasagna Sheets
- 2 x 125g (4.5 oz) Mozzarella Balls, torn
- 100g (3.5 oz) Tub Grated Parmesan
Instructions
- First, make the bolognese sauce. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat. Soften the onions with a very generous pinch of salt for about 5 minutes until they are translucent, then add the garlic. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, until soft and fragrant.
- Add the beef and turn up the heat to medium high. Breaking up the mince with the back of your spoon as you go, fry it until the meat is brown all over.
- Stir in the tomato puree, dried oregano, sugar, and lots of black pepper. Then add the red wine and tinned tomatoes, washing the tins out with the wine so you don’t leave any of the tomato juices behind!
- Bring the sauce to the boil, then reduce to a simmer, leaving without a lid for half an hour. Remove from the heat to cool slightly while you make the béchamel. Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees celsius (355 fahrenheit)
- In a smaller saucepan, melt the butter over a medium low heat. Using a balloon whisk, stir in the flour, and cook, still stirring, for a few minutes to cook out the flour and get rid of that raw flour taste. Gradually whisk in the milk until you have a smooth sauce. Add the nutmeg, and continue to whisk until the sauce has thickened and will coat the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat.
- To assemble the lasagna, spread a little of the bolognese sauce over the bottom of a large, square baking dish (mine is 8 inches x 8 inches) and lay two lasagna sheets on top. Start building the layers, starting with a ladle of bolognese, a ladle of béchamel, a few mozzarella pieces, a sprinkle of parmesan and two more lasagna sheets, laid in the opposite direction. Keep going until you run out of béchamel, and you only have a ladle of bolognese, and about 1/3 of the mozzarella and parmesan left. To build the top layer, spread over the remaining bolognese, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Bake the lasagne for 50 minutes, covering the top with foil after 30 minutes to stop the cheese on top burning. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 30 minutes, like a steak, before serving.