Recipe: Family "Flavourite" Cheesy Lasagna

I made this lasagna 3 times already and it tastes better each time! Go ahead and try it out for yourself. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I will answer as soon as possible

Ingredients

Ingredients are flexible based on portioning and what meat to veggie ratio you want as I follow a rather agak-agak (roughly roughly) style when it comes to portions. As long as you keep your portioning and ratios realistic, it will come out nice. For example, if you do not like a more fluid lasagne, reduce your more water retentive veggies like celery.

Minced Meat – You can use beef, pork or chicken, depending on your palate. I prefer to have it with beef (if I want it to be heavier) or pork (if I want it a little lighter)

Olive Oil

Salt

Onion

Garlic

Carrot

Celery

Red Wine - I used a Pinot Noir but Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot works well too

Basil (Fresh)

Oregano (Dry)

Bay Leaf - You only need 1 or 2 leaves

Canned Tomatoes

Tomato Paste (or Puree)

Flour

Butter

Milk

Cheddar

Mozzarella

Parmesan

White Pepper

Truffle Oil - This is slightly expensive but it is definitely worth it. However, if you do not have truffle oil, the dish will go fine without it.

Lasagna Sheets - Make sure you get the oven ready sheets. Don’t bother with fresh sheets. I explained further below.

Steps:

Meat Sauce

Step 1: Lightly sear the minced meat with olive oil and some salt, browning it slightly.

Step 2: Remove the meat from the pot but leave any remaining juices in the pot.

Step 3: Then, add in onion, garlic, carrots, celeries and stir in with some more olive oil.

Step 4: Once veggies are lightly browned, throw in your meat and drown it in red wine (Be generous but don’t fill the pot with it). Let the wine reduce a bit.

Step 5: Add your basil, oregano and bay leaf and stir.

Step 6: Add your canned tomatoes and a little bit of tomato paste into the pot and stir. Let it simmer on low heat until ready for baking (or at least 45 minutes, depending on portioning, whichever comes later).

Béchamel Sauce

Step 1: Make a roux by melting some butter in a pot. Then, add flour spoonful by spoonful. When you are adding the flour, do it slowly and carefully until you have a somewhat nutty grain to the mixture.

Step 2: Add milk slowly and stir until thick. If it is too thick, add more milk; if it is too watery, add more flour.

Step 3: Add your cheeses. Cheddar, Mozzarella, Parmesan. Stir until smooth and thick. Make sure all the chunks are melted.

Step 4: Add some salt, white pepper and the secret ingredient, Truffle Oil.

Now, to combine the two

Ingredient Note: Make sure you are using oven ready lasagne sheets and make sure to NOT pre-boil them. Pre-boiling would lead to the sheet becoming wet and diluting some of the flavour. During the baking process, the sheets will absorb some of the sauces, giving the pasta sheet itself some flavour.

Step 1: Take both your meat sauce and béchamel sauce off the heat and prepare a large oven dish.

Step 2: Layer your lasagne in this order: Pasta, Meat sauce, béchamel sauce, parmesan. Repeat until your container is full with your meat and béchamel sauces being spread into thin layers between the sheets of pasta.

Step 3: On the final layer, put extra parmesan and douse the top with cheddar.

Step 4: Put it in the oven at around 180 Celsius and bake. Check every 10-15 minutes to see if it is cooked.

Step 5: When you are sure that your lasagne is cooked, grill the top for 5 minutes. (Open the oven door slightly to let some of the hot air come out to prevent overcooking)

Step 6: It is ready to serve. If you have extra béchamel sauce after that, you can serve it on the side by dousing it on your lasagne.

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Hope you enjoyed this recipe. It is so far one of my family’s "flavourites". Let me know if you want to see more recipes like this!