Could you help me up my lasagne game please?

[ofestivetree]

This is what I usually do:

2 onions
2 cloves of garlic

Fry them up a bit

500g mince - 10% fat

Brown the mince in the same pan

3 tablespoons of red lentils
1 courgette chopped up into quarter slices
Supermarket red lasagne sauce

All in the same pan. Cook corgettes through.

Then layer up with supermarket pasta sheets and white sauce.

Top with cheese.

Bake until cooked.

End result is very tasty but how can I up my game?

Add cheese and a spot of mustard to the white sauce. Italians will hate you but you'll love it.

Do you make your own white sauce?

If so add a beaten egg, and beat it in - the silkiness you get is extraordinary.

casting no judgement on using shop bought red sauce

I don't no. I would like to try next time though. Is it just a roux with cheese?

Absolutely willing to lose the jars if people think this makes a difference

It will make a huge difference.

Flour and butter, milk add lots of tasty mature cheese and season well.

Ragu is easy too:

Onions, garlic, tomatoes, tomato puree, cinnamon, honey and Balsamic vinegar with your mince. Add any veggies you want.

I use pork and beef mince together.
I wouldn't add lentils. I love them but not if I'm trying to do a very upmarket lasagne.
I'd use canned tomatoes and some red wine and herbs instead of jarred sauce (though I use jarred sauce for other pasta regularly).
Long slow cooking.

You need more cheese. Cheese in the white sauce and cheese sauce on top.

Oh yes, definitely make your own white sauce. With cheese. Lots. And cheese on top too.

Smoked paprika is the best

I make my own sauces and use 5% mince. You can make it richer by adding red wine.

Lasagne takes so long to make though, I only make it a couple of times a year. It just isn’t worth the amount of work imo.

If yours tastes nice, then just substitute the pasta sheets with fresh pasta?

do you use some stock? or a dash of red wine maybe?

I've heard people use pork before. I'll look into it

Lose the courgette, watery mush in a lasagne. I'm vegetarian and have had some shocking lasagnes over the years and courgette is often a culprit.

That was my other question really. What % fat is best in the mince

Lose the lentils.
Use red wine
Use passata, not jars
Worcestershire sauce - splash or two only
Make your own cheesy sauce
Use cheese or bexhamel sauce in every layer
Make sure mince is not too wet - when scooped out the mince there shouldn't be any sauce at the bottom of the pan, if there is it needed reducing more

Ditch the jars!

Fry onion, garlic and chopped smoked bacon
Add 500g mince
Glug of red wine
2 tins of chopped toms
Big squirt of tom puree
Crumbled beef oxo cube
Mixed herbs, salt and pepper.
Simmer for a good 45 mins/hour

White sauce
Melt butter
Add flour to make a paste
Gradually add milk, whisk whisk whisk until thick
Couldn't tell you quantities, I eyeball it
Salt pepper and nutmeg
No cheese in the sauce, just on top of the assembled lasagne.

I'd ditch the sauces from a jar. I don't make lasagne that often as it's a bit faffy for midweek dinner.

Red wine, bay leaves, rosemary and oregano, beef stock cube and loads of tomato puree and the best passata you are willing to spend on. Plus tons of garlic.i tend to cook the Ragu in the slow cooker (the day before if I'm organised)

White sauce isn't too difficult to make although I always end up having to sieve mine because I can never get the lumps out. I add a bit of nutmeg and mature cheese/parmesan. Loads of parmesan on top too to get a lovely cheesy crunchy top

This my recipe and my my most asked for dish by both my daughter and my best mate.

Fry a finely chopped onion until soft, then add crushed garlic and stir over a lower heat for a minute.
Add minced beef and a few rashers of finely chopped smoked bacon - cook until browned.

Add a heaped tsp each of smoked paprika and Italian herb seasoning, a tablespoon of tomato purée, a tin of chopped tomatoes and a beef ‘stock pot’. Simmer for half an hour.

Make your own white sauce - there’s just no comparison. I add extra strong mature cheddar which ain’t authentic but we like it, and a tap of Dijon mustard. Have never tried adding egg but makes sense so will give that a go next time.

Layer up using fresh lasagne sheets, final layer of cheese sauce, the add a generous sprinkle of grated Parmesan and a small mozzarella ball sliced or chopped up.

Bake for about half an hour at 180 fan.

Ideally, prep it all the day before and leave to stand for 10-15 minutes in a warm place after baking as its will stay together better on serving.

You can also do exactly the same for a veggie version - I roast off a tray of Mediterranean style veg and chop them up, then add them in place of the meat. Top the final layer with breadcrumbs blitzed with pesto and grated Parmesan.

Scrap the courgette and the supermarket lasagne sauce.

One onion, one carrot, one stick celery - chop fine and saute for about 10 minutes
Add bacon/pancetta and brown
Add mince and brown
Add half a bottle red wine and reduce by half
Add tin tomatoes + seasoning
If you want to bulk it out a bit with red lentils chuck some in

Then cook as slowly as possible for as long as possible, minimum 1 hour, ideally 3+

Even better, given lasagne is a faff to make, make double the quantity of mince. Have half as spag bol on day 1, then make lasagne with the rest on day 2. It will taste even better for having been left overnight.

And sub veg stock for the beef stock obvs!

Not sure fat content is that important really. I use beef mince, onions, garlic, bay leaves, dried basil and oregano, red peppers, stock cube, tinned tomatoes and tomato purée and a dash of Worcestershire sauce, for the meaty bit. Simmer for 30 mins. Some put in mushrooms but my kids dislike them.
As others have suggested, make your own cheese sauce. Easiest to put milk, flour, mustard, seasoning and butter in pan and gently whisk until it comes to the boil.
Then layer with grated cheese on the top. I do a big dish and cook for 45 mins at 160/170 to ensure the pasta cooks through. I can’t see any benefit of using fresh pasta. Seasoning meat and cheese sauce is important too.

I make a proper long cooked rich meat sauce with 75:25 beef and pork mince. (I make a massive pan of it then freeze in portions) I think it makes all the difference. Probably more cheese than is ENTIRELY healthy....

Bacon.

I don't use plain white sauce, I make cheese sauce to use throughout. And then top with extra cheese.

Cheese sprinkled between every layer. Preferably a mix of cheddar, mozzarella and parmesan.

Sundried tomatoes in the sauce makes it richer.

Also Google Mexican lasagne for a change of scene.

I sometimes also add olives and / or jalapeños, but that's usually if I'm making a veggie version.

I also use cheese sauce. Plain white sauce is usually tasteless.