Help me with my lasagne please!

[viennesewhirl]

My bolognese sauce is always good, so is my bechamel - but something always goes wrong when I assemble the damn thing. Once (when we had people-I-don't-know-that-well for dinner) it just sort of collapsed on the plates like catsick, the next time it was too dry.

Please give me an idiot's guide to layering the meat, the sauce and the lasagna sheets. (Meat and sauce together? How much of each in each layer? etc.)

Thank you!

[Lishylooloo]

When is collapses on the plate does it still actually taste good? Mine does that too but it tastes amazing so I don't mind. If you want it to be more 'firm' you really have to let it cool for quite a while and then serve it. Frozen lasagne, defrosted and heated up for example is always firm but doesn't taste good in my opinion.

[fishie]

i rather like the nigella recipe where the meat and bechamel is all mixed together with cooked penne and then baked.

[viennesewhirl]

I don't want it to be totally solid, it should collapse a little bit - but not be like soup. (I think I had way too much bechamel and much too few lasagne sheets that time.)

[Lishylooloo]

Another thing that could help is to make your bolognese sauce and bechamel sauce thicker (not watery). The less watery, the more chance it will stay together. Still, let it cool for a while.