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?

Rosemary
Oregano
Paprika
Touch of cumin really brings out flavour in mince
Dash of balsamic vinegar

Exactly, @Chuffaluffa. what I do is make a Ragu, Delia’s recipe is good but I don’t add the chicken livers. If you can’t get pork mince then you can use really good quality pork sausages. (Not Richmond!). This can cook on a low heat for up to four hours. Freeze in small batches and whenever you want a quick dinner all you need to do is make a cheese sauce and layer up. I make mine with a roux and warm milk.

Re: lasagne taking so long to make, I batch-cook a huge pan of bolognese and portion. Then when I want a lasagne, I defrost a bolognese, make a white sauce (I'm all for jars but I've tried them all and none of the white sauces in a jar is good) and so the only time it takes is making the white sauce (10 mins tops) and layering (2 mins) and that's the lasagne ready to go in the oven.

My mum didn't ever make lasagne because "it takes too long" and couldn't get her head around making up the bolognese in advance and freezing it, which makes lasagne less than 15 minutes to make. It was a shame because I loved lasagne growing up but rarely had it as she made it into this enormous big job thing when it needn't have been at all.

Bolognese also good for spaghetti in a hurry as well, obvs. Doesn't need to be just for making lasagne with.

Missing herbs !
I add aubergine also.

Oregano and marjoram.
Stop buying shop sauce and make your own with tomatoes, tomato pure, olive oil, onions and herbscand a pinch of sugar to taste.

I don't really like celeray

I use finely chopped onions, carrots, celery and mushrooms as the base before adding the meat- I only use beef- brown the meat then add finely chopped garlic. I leave the garlic until that stage as I have a habit of getting distracted and burnt garlic isn’t good.

Then I add some wine, cook the alcohol off and add tinned plum tomatoes.
Dried bay leaves and oregano. Simmer that for an hour, or put it in the fridge for the next day. That gives it more time for the flavour to develop.

Layer it in the baking dish with homemade béchamel and grated Parmesan on the top.

Herbs. Italian seasoning if you want easy.

Neither do my kids, I chop it up really small, it just adds a depth to the flavour of the sauce, you can't really taste it or see it in the mince as a separate ingredient.

You don't taste it. I don't like it but it makes a difference

50/50 beef mince & pork sausagemeat (or decased butchers sausage ). Ragu made with tinned plum tomatoes, carrots, mushrooms, peppers, celery, fried pancetta. I add herbs & a splash of red wine if there's any open. Make sure the ragù is reduced down before layering.

I use Parmesan in the white sauce, it's delicious!

Making the sauces yourself really helps. I batch cook a bolognaise and also use it for lasagne. It's pretty much the same as yours but with tinned tomatoes and tomato purée instead of a jar sauce and I either cook it all day n the slow cooker or a couple of hours in the oven/on the hob.

We like a crusty top so I finish it with pasta sheets, a tiny bit of white sauce and LOTS of grated cheese.

Mince
Onion carrots celery
Fennel seed
Oregano
Garlic
2 tins of tomatoes
I glass of red wine
And after browning simmer for at least 2 hours

The celery and carrot are very important in my opinion (I chop the celery and onion very very tiny, and grate the carrot before frying them in plenty of oil for ages).

Along with a tin of chopped tomato and garlic and italian herbs. Bit of red wine and soy sauce and black pepper. Can use stock but usually don’t need it. Sometimes I add some sugar to the meat sauce if the tomatoes make it a bit tangy.

I make bechemel sauce in a Thermomix which takes a minute or two of prep; would probably buy otherwise.

You don't taste the celery. It's just part of the basic base. Celery, onion, carrot

Celery is horrid raw but it creates a completely different savoury taste when fried (chop up as tiny as possible). And carrot goes sweet. You won’t look back!

I buy ready prepared soffrito, fresh or frozen as we’d never use up the rest of the celery. I use it as a base for cottage pie as well. It makes a big difference to the depth of flavour.

Ok great ill try the celery. Thank you! I think I'll have to make all these changes a step at a time and keep experimenting!

This. It is also the reason I rarely bake lasagne. To make it well, it takes two days.

DH makes Ragu and cooks it for 5+ hours.

Half pork half beef
Finely chopped lardons
A carrot or 2 cut in fine dice in thé sauce
The meat from 2 thin pork sausage cut into small dice in the meat sauce.
Proper white sauce
Grated parmesan in each layer on top of the white sauce when assembling.

I make the mince/veg part in the slow cooker then assemble later. Finish off in the oven. Twice bake it. Always better the second day as left overs!

I always put cheese over the mice before the adding the sheets

I'd try mushrooms instead of courgettes plus more garlic and herbs. Mushrooms have a meatier flavour and texture than courgette. Grated or shredded is better than than sliced grate a courgette in as well if you want the goodness but not lumps.

I like that idea (assuming mice is a typo)

Make a bechamel sauce - about half a pack of standard butter in a pan, melt. Add about same weight of plain flour and stir in. Add splash of full milk, beat it in, keep adding milk, beating and stirring - use a wooden spoon not a whisk as it protects the gluten in the flour. On a low heat, stir until it thickens, gradually beating it hard to keep the lumps out. Add salt and pepper to taste and then grate the best part of a whole nutmeg in.

Make a ragu: finely chopped onions and finely diced carrots and celery. Cook down in a little oil until soft. Add minced beef (or venison) and brown. Add red wine to deglaze, tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and oregano (fresh if you have it). Season with salt and pepper, stir in a strong beef stock cube and add more liquid if it needs it. Cook out long and slow.

Cool sauces
Assemble lasagne, finish with a good layer of grated parmesan.

Bake

Loose the supermarket sauce and use Passata, red wine, oregano, basil and finely chopped sun dried tomatoes. Cook on low for at least 2 hours before assembly. White sauce needs cheese in it and lots of cheese on top to