Beef Lasagne … A Simple Homemade Recipe …

My kids will often request Lasagne, making this one of my family’s favourite dishes. I love making it too because it’s the perfect dish to whip up early in the day (or even the day before) allowing me to be more organised at dinnertime. I like to bake my Lasagne and then refrigerate for at least a couple of hours, giving it time to firm up and set. This ultimately makes it easier to cut and serve and it will hold its shape better. I can usually stretch this over two meals by serving with garlic bread and a lovely fresh green salad and the good news is that it will also freeze well. Enjoy!

Beef Lasagne … A Simple Homemade Recipe …

 

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Author: Mrs Organised

Ingredients …

• 1 packet of Instant Lasagne Sheets (or fresh Lasagne Sheets)
• Meat Sauce:
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 500 g lean mince
• 1 x 700 g bottle pureed tomatoes
• 1 x 140 g can tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• Salt & pepper
• Bechamel Sauce Mixture:
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup plain flour
• 3 cups milk
• ½ cup grated reduced fat cheddar cheese
• ¼ cup parmesan
• 1 tablespoon breadcrumbs

Method …

1. In a large saucepan, add a dash of olive oil and simmer the onion and garlic until the onion is transparent.
2. Add the mince and cook until browned, breaking up any lumps.
3. Add remaining ingredients, bring to boil, simmer 10-15 minutes and leave to one side.
4. To make the Bechamel Sauce, gently melt the butter over a low heat in a medium-sized saucepan. Remove the saucepan from the heat and add the flour, mixing well to avoid lumps. Return the saucepan to a medium heat and slowly add milk, stirring constantly until sauce boils and thickens.
5. Preheat oven to 170C and assemble the lasagna as follows: Spoon ¼ meat sauce over base of lasagne dish. Top with lasagne sheets. Spread ⅓ white sauce over top of lasagne sheets. Repeat until all white sauce and meat sauce have been used making sure that the final layer is meat sauce. Top with grated cheese and parmesan cheese and sprinkle the breadcrumbs loosely over the top.
6. Cover with foil and bake for approximately 40 minutes, then remove the foil and bake for a final 20 minutes to allow the cheese topping to brown a little. Pasta should be cooked through and cheese will melt and brown slightly. Remove from the oven and allow to sit for a little while to firm up and cool slightly.

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Clever Tricks, Tips and Hints …

• I always add a sprinkle of breadcrumbs to any dish with a cheese topping. Most cheese will release oils when baked in the oven leaving small pools on the top of the dish. The breadcrumbs will soak this up and add a little extra texture to the topping.

• Lasagne will freeze really well unlike a lot of other pasta dishes, so eat half for one meal, freeze the other half and give yourself a night off cooking!

• Remember to be patient and allow the Lasagne to sit and cool for a while after removing it from the oven. If you pull it from the oven and slice it up straight away, it will most likely not hold its shape and the sauces will run all over the plate. It will still taste fantastic but just won’t look great.

• When constructing your Lasagne, be sure to take care and spread all the sauce layers to the edges to completely cover the Lasagne sheets, otherwise it may be dry around the edges.

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