Making a lasagne from scratch

Well, you should be cooking the meat for most of that time. 30 minutes is quick...

also, have you tried making Nigella’s lasagne? That takes 2.5 weeks - never mind hours - AND you still run out of bechamel for the top layer

This is one of the most hilariously accurate posts I seen in a loooong while. 🤣

I only make lasagne if I’ve made a big batch of meat sauce anyway.

sometimes cheat and don’t make bechamel at all, use ricotta in the middle layer and an egg/yogurt/parmesan topping.

but still…tbh most of the time I’d just as soon have pasta with meat sauce and plenty of Parmesan.

Only done it from scratch (not the pasta) a handful of times, but I now make the bolognese the day before (or week before and freeze) and then make a big enough one to last 2 days. Couldn't justify it to myself otherwise. I guess you get quicker with the bechemal the more often you make it, but I'm still slow!!!

This is too long! Beshamel takes literally 15 mins to do from scratch! Bolognese sauces takes 1-2 hours, but it is 15 mins prep, cut a few carrots, onions and celery, let is sweat 5-6 mins, add the minced near, add the tomatoes from the can (mutti the best), let it simmer slowly for 1-2 hours, bechamel 15 mins, then you buy the fresh pasta sheets from the fridge section, put some bechamel in the bottom, one layer of lasagne sheet, bolognese sauce, some bechamel, another layer and then a third, put a bit of bolognese sauce on the top, just a bit, then bechamel, then the grated Parmesan which is available already grated! It takes around 20 mins and then oven for 15. It is a long process but the real working time is max an hour

Same as me, it's too much effort to do all that in one go. Also, if you cook the bolognese ahead, like many meals of this kind, the flavour comes out more when you eat it later. I also like to make a really good bolognese, not just chuck some garlic and tomoatoes in. I prepare a soffrito base of celery, carrot, courgette, plus add in some red lentils, not too much, but just enough so it streches a bit, so I can get two lots of bolognese out of one pack of mince by the time I've done all that.

Parboiling the sheets takes ages as you can only do one at a time in a pan that's wide enough for one sheet only. Doing more than one sheet only sticks to the other sheet.

If you’re batch cooking bolognese use 800g of mince (or reduce to 400g and use 2x cans of lentils) , 2 onions, 3 garlic cloves plus seasoning ( I tend to find adding in the mince with the onions together helps the mince break up and brown and the onions soften works for me, before adding the rest - garlic, other veg, softest veg in that order). You can then make this to your preferred taste. I like to add chopped carrot, celery and pepper - I sometimes throw spinach and wild greens in. Fry for a bit then add oregano, dill and paprika, tomato puree (3tbsp about). Allow herbs to sweat and release flavour before adding liquid. Add a splash of white wine vinegar and a teaspoon of sugar (supposed to be brown but any does it). Add glass of red wine (you can do without if you don't have it). Add 2 cans of tinned tomatoes. Add more water if you need. Some of my family add cinnamon (I add it to the bechamel in lasagne - Greek)

The big thing about bolognese is it is about making it your way. Some Italians may tell you there is a right or wrong way, but really dishes are created first for the family and for you being happy you’ve made a great dish for them

Lasagna is a faff, and with 2 very small children present, the stress levels are comparable to hostage negotiations.

This is how we‘ve made it bearable:

No lasagna before DS was 5

DH makes the ragu and makes as much as he can get into our biggest saucepan. We may add spaghetti to some for a spag bol that day.

DS (8) and I assemble the lasagna the following day. Basically it’s him under my supervision. I find if I whisk the melted butter and flour until it’s fully combined, then add most of the milk, stir it intermittently, then let it just go to the cusp of a boil before turning it right down, the Béchamel takes 15 minutes max.

We put cheddar in ours, then mozzarella on top. Covered in foil in the oven and served with supermarket garlic bread.

Lasagna is made in our biggest pan - which as designed for a lasagna is exactly the width of a lasagna pasta plate. No cutting needed.

We then have lasagna to eat and freeze, as well as leftover ragu for the freezer.

Sometimes I freeze the ragu (and other sauces) in silicon muffin forms so I can take out just enough for spag Bol for one during the week.

A friend once showed me a cheat‘s white sauce which involved whisking egg (yolk?) into yogurt. Think it was a weightwatchers‘ recipe.

I made lasagne last night and can confirm it takes blooming ages. Made Meliz Cooks recipe (with a Turkish Cypriot spin). The ragu took over 1 1/2 hours (used food processor for prep, frying veg for 15/20 mins then adding other ingredients in phases then just over an hour simmering). Bechamel didn’t take long, had to make a kind of pesto too. Then assembly then cooking for 40 mins. Three hours start to finish basically - but this was an extra involved recipe. Truly delicious, mind you, really really good. I am a very capable cook, so I know it’s not me being slow, it just takes a long time if you want to make it properly (eg “I can make a bolognese in 20 mins” lol yeah right, and how does that taste?)….

Oops, I meant 250ml ( 1/2 pint) of milk. 😳

If you use dry sheets the sauce needs to be wet enough to allow the sheets to absorb the liquid and soften and cook. Try using fresh or parboiling the dry sheets first or leaving your sauce wetter.

It is like cooking 2 meals. If I am going to the effort of making lasagna I double up on my quantities and make 2 lasagne, 1 for that night and 1 for the freezer.

Are you my son? He took an hour to make some pastry the other week. For a normal, competent cook, the white sauce for a lasagne should take no more than 15-20 minutes.

The only way I could imagine that taking an hour would be if you were following a fancy recipe that involved heating the milk with onion, spices etc. and leaving it for the flavours to infuse for a while. Even that wouldn't really take up an hour of your time though - you'd heat it, add other ingredients, and get on with other stuff.

I will admit I rarely make a classic lasagne from scratch, though. I tend to make a big batch of ragu/bolognese sauce, freeze portions, then use some of them to make lasagne another time.

I only ever make it from scratch, but never takes more than 45mins max

I've often found that the dish takes ages for the lasagne sheets to soften. Although, I do attempt 4/5 layers and the ragu sauce is meant to be rich and not too thin or else it'll be tasteless. It bakes in the oven for around 1hr but it the sheets are still not cooked through/softened.

Where am I going wrong?

I cheat. I make bolo/ragu in slow cooker day before. Layer up pasta and ragu then wack bisto cheese sauce on top with pre grated cheddar.

And Lentils is a good shout!

Yes deffo nutmeg 👊

You’re doing something very wrong. 15 mins for bechemel. Melt butter add flour stir. Keep stirring add milk slowly, then nutmeg. I usually make the bolognese beforehand say a double batch that I pull from the freezer. My base is processed celery, carrot, courgette, plenty of veg also add some red lentils, garlic and beef stock cube. All comes out very delicious.

I’m fast, but a full lasagne with loads of veggies does take some time to prep. Even I’ll admit that!

I made a lasagne tonight in about an hour and a half tonight, I was quite slow because I’m not feeling fantastic! It’s something I’ve made a lot and when you have to refer to a recipe it’s a lot lot slower. When you speed up chopping that helps tons. I have a lot of veggies in tonight’s, so it took me a while - onion, pepper, courguette, aubergine, carrot, celery.
I was tired so I forgot to add the herbs - added it to the white sauce on top and it’s actually still tasty so it’s saved!
I know exactly what I need though so I get everything ready on the counter (the tray, the pots, all utensils, veg, meat, cheese, milk, flour, etc.
I don’t weight anything. That speeds it up too, I do it by eye, and I adjust the sauce thickness as I go if I need to, but I’ve made white sauce so many times that I know what I need to achieve the consistency pretty well first time round. I don’t always infuse it - if I’ve got more time I will, but it a basic white sauce is still better than a jar.
I promise you - if I can learn how to cook quickly (and multi task, with several pots on the go, making sides on the go as well) then, anyone can! It just takes practise, the more you memorise, and the more you chop, the faster you’ll get.
Also, you can grate cheese in a food processor.