Proper lasagna is a faff..

[BarrelOfOtters]

it is though.

I don’t meaning dumping jars of dolmio in a slow cooker. But a proper ragu and roux.

I don't put loads of veg into my Ragu sauce 1kg minced beef, 4 tins of chopped tomatoes, squirt of tomato puree, squirt of garlic puree, finely chopped 1 onion, occasionally I might finely chop one yellow pepper if I happen to have one. I'm allergic to mushrooms so don't have them in the house. DH is vegetarian and I make him an aubergine lasagne. He loves it. He has some the following day and freezes 2 portions too.

It really is, I only make it once or twice a year but I do love it and I do enjoy the ritual of cooking but I need half a day to myself to potter around in the kitchen with some music on, a glass of wine (sorry Mumsnet haters) and then I can really enjoy the process.

It's a labour of love, a whole day affair. And now to add to the labour I've started making my own pasta sheets. I'll only do it if I've got absolutely nothing else to do that day and plenty of wine to sip through the whole process

Yes, I never understand people who say it's an easy family meal. It's not.

As has been pointed out lots of times, there's a difference between EASY and FAFFY.

Your original post was about it being a faff. To which you have plenty of agreement.

But is it hard? No - none of the steps are difficult (and there are plenty of shortcuts available if people want them).

Is it a faffy meal - yes.
Is it an easy meal - also yes.

They're two different things.

I make large quantities of ragout in the slow cooker and freeze it in single dish portions. Those zip lock bags from Lidl are great because you can smooth them flat and stack them in a small space in the freezer.
Then I have only got the bechamel sauce, layering and cooking on the day.
It is possible to make large amounts of sauce and freeze separately too.
It doesn't take that much longer to do triple quantities IME. You still have the faff, but at least you get 3 meals out of it.

Make it yourself from scratch you know what goes in it. Otherwise it's all heavily processed!

It's a faff but worth it.

It's such a delicious, comforting dinner to all sit down to. It's a real occasion meal

In this age of quick quick quick somethings are worth the effort

It is a right faff.

What you need is someone who makes a great lasagna so you don't have to. For this I use my 24 yo son. It's great! I get all the joy of eating it and none of pain of making it.

Agree

If I'm in the mood I love the whole process of making a proper lasagna

Any shop version even so called posh ones are totally inferior and I'd bet my gran I would spot one in a blind taste

Dishes? It's two pans (maybe a tray if you roast off peppers separately) and the oven dish! Way more used in a roast

It's amazing after a second bake

This

You can taste that horrible garlic powder especially in budget brands

I think there are a lot of people sayings it's a faff - which, for me, equals it not being an easy family meal.

Apologies also for leading anyone down the garden path with slow cooker lasagna - I meant making the ragu in a slow cooker by bunging meat and a jar of dolmio in.

I can make a ragu - and it takes 2 to 3 hours of slow cooking on the hob.

My husband can make spag bol in 20 minutes...I eat it ... but it's not a ragu.

I can make white sauce.

I'm not sure whether there should be cheese on top of lasagna or not - but I like it on the top of my lasagna.

On the other hand, I can make a sunday roast without thinking about it too hard and find that quite an easy meal.

And the lovely chewy crispy bits you get at the edges . I try not to serve these and instead snarf them when I'm clearing away. Chefs privilege and all

I'm making one this week. I chopped all my veg when doing last nights tea, will put my ragu on (I have used lazy chopped frozen onions) this evening again when making tea, refrigerate, then make my bechamel on Friday, assemble and bake, then superset to eat half over the weekend then left overs I'll freeze.

Sometimes I make vegan for everybody, sometimes I don't. Depends who's coming, what ingredients I have, how much notice etc.

To a pp who said just give the vegan friend a jacket potato, I suppose I could. But I don't mind cooking extra vegan lasagne. It always gets eaten as I'm veggie and I like dd's friend and everybody just serves jacket potato and I'd imagine that gets boring.

The thing is, I never make lasagne starting from the raw ingredients all in one go.

Like many others, I make the ragu in bulk (for ease if menu planning I often plan in 2 or 3 of eg cottage pie / spag bol / chili / lasagne into the same 10 day menu cycle), so all I need to do for lasagne is make the white sauce, grate cheese for the top, layer and bake. About the same prep time as macaroni cheese, less than cottage pie or fish pie.

I don’t use jar sauces or ready meals, with the sole exception of oven bake fish and chips, so my basis for comparison is ‘is this a faff compared with other home prepared meals from scratch’ (no), not ‘is this a faff compared with a ready made lasagne (obviously yes).

Ragú is made in the slow cooker all day (for the record: onions, celery and carrots alongside tomatoes and mince and garlic and herbs), white sauce made later on, two for the freezer, and spag bol for now.

It can definitely be a labour of love.

But if (and I get this isn't everyone) you enjoy the process of cooking it and are happy to take up an afternoon doing it (assuming you are doing the whole thing in one shift) then once your tunes are on and maybe a small glass of wine as a treat, it's lovely.

If food is just fuel however of you compare anything to shop versions/air fryer teas then yes it's time consuming and you probably won't appreciate how much better it tastes

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz I don't disagree it's a lovely meal, and that home made can taste fantastic (when done well) and better than a ready meal. But any meal that takes a whole afternoon to make, regardless of how wine filled that afternoon is, is a faff and not an easy family meal.

I think some of the people who suggest it is an easy family meal are perhaps taking the dolmio route....

I made it from scratch when my husband and I first met and it's now his favourite thing I cook, so I'm trapped I make it at least twice a month. but I actually love it, I find it a very satisfying dish to cook.
And he made the same mistake by making me a perfect veggie curry on our first date and now he had to make me it forever.

It only takes that long if you do it all in one go, so can be much quicker

Horses for courses and all

I think some of the people who suggest it is an easy family meal are perhaps taking the dolmio route....

@BarrelOfOtters I think it's the use of the word 'easy' that people are confused by.

It is easy in that it's not a complicated meal to cook, anyone could do it, but it's an extremely time-consuming meal (done properly) that you wouldn't just knock up after school on a Tuesday night.

It's easy, but it's not quick.

OP, what recipe do you follow? When I make lasagna, I make the ragu in the slow cooker the day before (fry onions and garlic, them bung in all that with tomatoes, dried herbs and red wine in slow cooker). On the day, I only make the roux and assemble. I freeze the extra ragu to use for bolognese.