Oh my god!! Just typed up most of my recipe, went to check some quantities and it cleared the whole thing!!! Grr!!
Right... Start again then bloody iPhone
Feeds 6 adults (needs a big dish!)
Ingredients:
1 pack or mince approx 400g
2 onions
1-2 oxo cubes
2-3 carrots
Oregano
Basil
Garlic - to taste
2 tins tomatoes
Mushrooms -approx 1/2 pack? (to taste)
White sauce option one (healthier)
1 pt milk
2 tbsp cornflour
Cheese (to taste), grated
White sauce option two (more authentic /yummier)
40g butter
40g plain flour
1 pt milk
Sorry in advance, a lot of this is just instinct to me because I've been making this since I was 13, adapted and improved over the past 15 years, so apologies if this isn't as in-depth as a proper recipe. Also, a lot of the ingredients say to taste, they're not essential but I tend to add them as it bulks it up and makes it a bit healthier. Also, we tend to use turkey mince, mostly because I was trying to avoid red meat, and it's much leaner, but we actually found we prefer it because you get the proper flavours from the sauc
Bolognaise:
Firstly you want to brown the mince in a large pan or wok. Then add the onions and cook til translucent. Add 1 oxo cube and stir through. Then add the carrots, as they needs to cook through nicely so they're not crunchy. Add basil and oregano to taste, I usually sprinkle liberally over the pot - I'm not a purist so just use dried but fresh gives a nicer flavour. Cook through for approx 5 mins. Now you want to add the tomatoes. If you're just cooking for adults then you might want to add a glug of Lea and Perrins or red wine at this point along with some salt n pepper. Possibly not if you're cooking for children. Leave to simmer for 5-10 mins and taste, you might want to add another oxo cube at this point. This sauce can be left simmering while you make the white sauce.
Now preheat the oven to 200 degrees, 180 if your oven has a fan.
White sauce option one -easy
Place cornflour in a mug, add a little of the milk to make a paste and then add more, little by little, until you've filled the mug. Put the remaining milk in a pan and turn up the heat. Add the cornflour liquid slowly to the pan whilst stirring constantly. You cannot leave thus sauce once you've started because it will burn on the bottom of your pan really quickly. Bring to the boil while stirring constantly, once you're there, add the cheese and stir until it's all melted through and you can then swiitch off the heat and put to one side. Do not leave it on the hot hob/stove.
I tend to do this one, my husband prefers the naughty one. Having said that, the above sauce can be as good or as naughty as you want, it all depends on how much cheese you put in!!
White sauce option two -Bechamel/Roux style
Put butter in pan and allow to melt. Then add the flour, little by little, mixing first into a paste and then as you add more it will look more like a yellow-ish dough. If you want to add seasoning, now is the time to do it. Leave the 'dough' for 3-5 minutes on a very low heat just to cook through a bit. Then you want to start adding the milk slowly and stirring through. If you add the milk too quickly it will go lumpy. Then turn up the heat, warm through (bring to the boil but dot allow it to boil) and then add cheese. Once this is melted through, turn off the heat.
Now to assemble!!
I usually do a layer of mince on the bottom, then a layer of pasta, the cheese sauce, then the same again; mince, pasta, cheese sauce. I then add grated cheese to the top or sliced mozzarella for a treat. Since making this for my husband, he actually prefers a hell of a lot of cheese sauce so I will sometimes do 1 1/2 or 2x the quantities but I think 1 pint is enough.
The lasagne now needs to go in the oven. If you've used fresh pasta you'll want to cook it for about 30 mins, 45 if you've used dried.
I hope this helps!! If you need to know approx size of dish I can findout for you, but am stuck on bed BFing at the moment (growth spurt :(, been stuck here all morning)
Jode x