I need an EPIC lasagne recipe!

[LivingMyBestLife2020]

I’m in competition with a friend over lasagne. I need the best recipe ever!

Any recipe suggestions gratefully received!

Thank you in advance 😬

In my experience lots of tomato purée is the way forward. Plus homemade white sauce and lots of layers of pasta.

This one. It takes forever but is amazing.

www.aglugofoil.com/2010/02/lasagne-al-ragu.html?m=1

I use 5% fat minced beef, browned with soffrito and garlic (lots). Chuck in lots of puree, two tins of chopped plum tomatoes, two oxo cubes, some frozen italian herbs, a dash of worcestershire sauce, a dash of nam pla sauce (which sounds crazy but really really does work) and a good glug of red wine. Reduce it all down for a good 20/30 minutes. I always put grated courgette and carrot in, plus chopped peppers/mushrooms, but appreciate that it's a question of choice and to be honest it's more about using up leftover veg than intrinsic to the recipe.

Make your own béchamel sauce - it's melted butter in a pan, once it's melted mix in a few spoonfuls of plain flour (off the hob) and keep mixing til it makes a thick sort of paste. Add milk - a little at a time - and put the pan back on the hob. Whisk the mixture constantly and continue adding splashes of milk til you have a proper thick sauce.

I add grated cheese to my béchamel, then layer it up with mince at the bottom, lasagne sheet, mince again, lasagne, béchamel, lasagne, mince, lasagne, béchamel and finally I grate more cheese for the top, then add chunks of mozzarella and fresh basil leaves, bake it for 35/45 minutes and serve with garlic focaccia and a salad.

Basil Pesto and red wine and full fat extra mature cheddar.

Use gruyere cheese

I have used Delia's recipe for years and my family love my (Delia's!) lasagne. I think as well as a base of onion/carrot/celery (called soffrito I think?) plus using beef and pork mince, what makes it so good is that the meat sauce is cooked slowly for 4 hours. I tend to make it in the morning. Layer up with a (homemade) cheesy white sauce later in the evening and then let it sit covered until the next day. It always tastes better the next day. Also it needs to sit for a while when it comes out of the oven before serving.

here's the recipe

I had a similar cook off and was victorious (thank you Delia Smith).

We love the Jamie one with chunks of squash and sage leaves in. But with a normal (home made) bechamel, not the cream he uses which is too heavy.

Not usually a big Jamie Oliver fan, nor of messing with classics, but this one is 👌

Red wine in the bolognese (and not random extra veg) and loads of cheesy sauce made with butter/mature cheddar.

Delia recipe is the one to do although I use grated parmesan on top of the bechemal inbetween the layers and then parmesan and mozzarella on the top. Defo leave to the next day, lasagne should not spill out onto the plate it should stand proud.

I think the mistake people make is not putting the bechemel and cheese on top of ragu between each pasta sheet layer.

Thanks all! I’m getting hungry now! Will have to do a practice run tomorrow 😬

Definitely this one www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/nov/29/hugh-fearnley-whittingstall-pasta-sauces

DD absolute favourite meal which takes ages to cook.

I totally agree with @brakethree
You need the cheesy sauce between each layer. When I think of what goes into my lasagne my arteries contract but it's a treat in our house and I think if you're going to make it, might as well do it right.

Good luck OP!

I add chopped up chorizo to my lasagne after somebody on here recommended it. It tastes divine!

Delia's recipe is good, but is pretty faffy.
I think the key is to cook the meat sauce for ages. Ideally make it the day before you need it. It's better the next day. And use fresh rather than dried pasta. Because it's not rock hard, you can pack the layers more closely and more of the pasta spends more time in contact with more of the sauce, meaning it takes on more flavour. Cooking dried pasta in boiling water for a few mins before layering acheives a similar effect (but it's hard to handle, so using fresh is easier).
A bit of bechamel on top of each pasta layer is important, and a handful of grated mozzarella too (I think Delia does that).

I was taught how to make lasagne last summer on a farm in Tuscany, by a lovely Italian Mama. She didn't speak English (and I don't speak Italian), but her (also lovely) sons translated, and kept the local chianti flowing. A very memorable evening.

Use beef SKIRT rather than mince is my advice

Good mince from the butcher

1kg of beef mince
2 large onions
3 large carrots
4 whole stalks of celery
3 tins of chopped tomatoes or 2 passata bottles
A few garlic cloves
2 beef oxo cubes
lump of muscovado sugar
Tablespoon of dried oregano
Good slosh of red wine
Salt

I use egg pasta Napolina sheets

White sauce- butter, flour and milk.

Brown mince, put aside.

In separate pot brown the onions then add finely chopped garlic,carrots and celery. Cook until slighltly softened.
Add the rest of ingredients (Including mince)and cook until soft. Check if it’s up to your taste and add seasoning if needed.

I usually prepare ragu in cast iron casserole dish in the oven when it’s bubbling nicely for at least an hour.

I usually assemble lasagne when ragu and white sauce are still hot and let it rest for at least couple of hours.

Layers go: ragu, pasta sheets(uncooked),white sauce. I usually have 3 layers. Grated cheese at the top.

Bake at 175 degrees covered for about 40 minutes, then uncover and bake for further 10-15 to crisp up the top.

Fry off mince and onions before adding any other ingredients, use a few grated carrots also a spoon of marmite and cook ragu in slow cooker for at least 6 hours.

I'm not the best at making lasagne but my mum is, no recipe just throw stuff in but the greatest tip is make it the day before, it always tastes better on day 2!

Sun dried tomato Paste / red pesto is the secret ingredient

Watch Paris Hilton's lasagne video

My personal favourite is lasagne made with chilli con carne for the filling. Sounds weird but the combination really works. I make my chilli from my head so don't really have a recipe but it's roughly:

Saute some chopped onions, garlic, ginger, chopped chillis and sliced chorizzo in a spoonful of oil. Chuck in the mince and brown. Add a tin of chopped tomatoes, 2 tins chilli beans, tomato puree, sliced carrots, cumin, liquid smoke (or BBQ seasoning) and a heaped teaspoon or two of cocoa powder. Salt and pepper to taste and a touch more chilli if needed.

Layer up the lasagne then top off with bechamel sauce. I usually add some grated mature cheddar to the bechamel and stir in a whisked egg to give it some body. Let the bechamel cool before adding the egg though or it will cook before it's mixed through.

Then into the oven at a medium-low heat (170 deg) for an hour or so.

Oh, and if you're using dried lasagne sheets pre-cook them in boiling water for 10 mins before layering up.

Isn’t the problem with leaving it overnight that the hard pasta soaks up all the white sauce and so then when you cook it it’s all but disappeared? Maybe ore cooking the pasta sheets would stop this....

It’s all in the ragu. I got my recipe from a friend who grew up in Italy. Definitely needs to cook for at least 5 hours. Frying the (beef and pork) mince separately helps with the flavour. Also keep old Parmesan rinds and add to the sauce whilst it’s simmering.

The recipe I have makes bucket loads, but it’s something like 3 onions, 5 carrots, 5 celery sticks blitzed and then fried for 10 mins, add in 5 crushed garlic cloves, 1 glass of white wine. Fry off separately a pack of beef mince, a pack of pork and a packet of posh deskinned pork sausages (break them up) and add to veg mix. Add 3 tins toms/ passata (I use a combination), 500ml whole milk, dash of Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, ketchup, seasoning, sugar. Cook at least 5 hours and top up with water/stock as you go along.

I often add in grated courgette/finely chopped mushrooms and red lentils to stretch it and up the veg content for the kids, but I would never tell my friend this as he would be horrified.

I love this one.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/maryberrysslasagneall16923