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?

For special occasions we use "Lorraine Pascale's Dad's Very Good Lasagne" recipe. It calls for Madeira, pancetta, sausages and cream etc so is very decadent and extremely calorific, and it takes a bit of time to make, but it is the best lasagne I have ever tasted.

Me too, it definitely makes a noticeable difference.

My trick is a heaped teaspoon of branston in the meat. So onion garlic mixed herbs, beef mince browned then tinned tomatoes lots of puree, red wine and the branston. Other chutney works too it just needs to have a sweet element so cranberry, redcurrent jelly etc works too. In a pinch tomato ketchup.

Also lots of cheese sauce. I make equal quantities as the meat and save about a quarter of it for a deep layer on the top with more cheese. Needs at least 50minutes at 170-180

I use mince beef, soffritto (celery, carrot, onion) diced pancetta, passata and dried basil, fresh groud black pepper, a pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt to make my ragu. I also use fresh lasagne sheets, not the dried "no need to soak" ones. This really does make a big difference. For the topping I make a white sauce to which I add a generous amount of fresh double cream and then top the whole thing off with provolone picante cheese - but a good strong cheddar will do.

Lentils and courgette in a lasagne? Just...why?

Don't use ready made sauce either, please!

Tomato sauce is easy to make, you can use passata but I prefer tinned tomatoes. Just blend them a bit in the blender so they're not in chunky bits, put them on top of your fried onion, garlic and mince, some salt, pepper, a pinch of oregano and basil, a spoon of sugar to remove the acidity from the tomatoes. If you're not pre cooking the lasagna sheets add a bit of water to sauce to make it more watery. Bring it to the boil and reduce in low heat for half an hour. And then you proceed to mount the lasagna. Don't forget to put a layer of sauce at the bottom of the dish first so the sheets won't be glued to it.

Honestly it depends on whether you want authentic or not. What you are making is not a lasagna per s. More like a meat and vegetable pasta bake.

All you need is a simple meat ragu. Soffritto, beef mince, tin toms, red wine, garlic, oregano, salt, pepper. Plus a simple white sauce. Butter, flour, milk.

Fresh pasta sheets. Layer up with Parmesan in the layers (no other cheese), I occasionally add fresh baby spinach in the layers, and finish with white sauce and Parmesan.

It will definitely make a difference.

Check out the many threads on bolognese for how to pimp your red element.

For cheese sauces (which I never make) a pinch of nutmeg and /or mustard is supposed to add something special.

Agree with the pinch of nutmeg in the cheese sauce, don't overdo it though

Also make sure you're using fresh pasta sheets instead of dried 😁

Don't use jar sauce. Add red wine to the meat with a can of tomatoes and some passata. Loads of herbs. Squeeze of lemon. Worcestershire sauce. Simmer on low for at least 2 hours.

Make your own bechemel and add a bit of smoked cheese and a fuckton of fresh parmesan.

I make my bolognese sauce as follows...
2 onions
1 carrot
3 fat garlic cloves
Stick of celery if I have one

Chop that lot and fry it off. Add mince fry until browned. Add large glass of red wine and simmer for a minute or so...add two crumbled beef oxo, a good slug of Worcestershire sauce and a carton of tesco passatta with onions and garlic. Add a good squirt of tomato purée. Bring to the simmer and cook in oven for a couple of hours on about 140 degrees. If it's a bit thick add a splash of water.

Layer up with lasagne sheets and top with homemade cheese sauce (as per PP I add a little dollop of English mustard). Lots of cheese on top before baking.

Ok this is mine and it is gooood

soften (NOT fry) diced onion and carrot in a big heavy bottom casserole dish in a good glug of olive oil, do this bit slowly so the onions go translucent and sweet.
midway through add chopped garlic. Keep temperature on the low side so nothing browns.

then scoop them out with a slotted spoon, turn temp up a bit, and throw in mince. Brown, season well.
Leave mince in and add carrots:oinion mix, then deglaze pan with a really good slosh of red wine.
add some mixed dried herbs/oregano/bay leaf
a squirt of tomato purée and/or sundried tomato paste. And a couple of good shakes of Worcestershire sauce.
Add a tin of chopped tomatoes and a jar of passata (Or if you have any left in the fridge, some tomato pasta sauce, but not all jar sauce).
add half a litre of beef stock made from
one of those concentrate sachets.
put lid on, put in oven, and leave for 45 mins, check. Then if too much liquids, take lid off for another 10. Do not forget and let it burn dry.
that’s your bolognaise sauce

i usually make a double batch, leave it overnight (it’s so much better the next day), then have one Spag bol meal and use the rest of the meat for lasagne.

for lasagne make a white sauce and layer with pasta, plenty of cheese (usually a mix of whatever I have) on top and plenty of black pepper

Charlie Bigham’s. If you’re going to use jar sauces why not just buy the whole thing?

No judgment, I have never made a lasagne and have no intention to as it’s a massive faff and I can buy good ready made.

We add sliced tomatoes on the final layer before adding more cheese 🙈
I honestly think the trick is to make it from scratch the day before you want to it. No jars.

@ofestivetree good white sauce is also important. Try googling Jamie O's Hunter's Lasagne.

Warm up the milk for bechamel with a halved onion, peppercorns, bay leaves, parsley, cloves. Bring to a very gentle simmer then take off the heat and stand for 30 mins. Strain and continue as usual. Add some grated nutmeg to the bechamel once completed.

i grease the pan with butter and start with a layer of pasta - this means when it is served it comes clean off the bottom!

Start with soffrito base, add red wine, a tomato sauce made from roasted cherry tomatoes, seasoning

https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/lasagne#rating

This recipe is a bit of a clart on but really tasty - and not too bad if you batch make elements in advance.

I'm making lasagne today. I started cooking the meat sauce this morning.

Carrot, onion, celery, garlic and smoked bacon blitzed in the food processor - I really dislike the texture of onion. Then start to cook in large pan. When sizzling stir a few times and add mince and dried mixed herbs.
Cook mince until just browned. Add tin tomatoes, bit of water using the tomato tin(s), glug of red wine and tomato puree mixed with milk. Leave to simmer until reduced at least an hour normally often loner. We went out so I turned the hob off after about 90mins.
I'll start to make bechemel sauce shortly - white sauce with half a stock cube in, I use a 500ml jug nesrly full of milk. I layer mince, pasta, white sauce, for several layers, then cheese on top.

I use mozzarella instead of bechamel.

More garlic.
Some grated carrot and celery chopped finely, cooked with the finely sliced onion.
Beef and pork mince.
Italian herbs (varies according to what I pull out of the cupboard but usually basil, oregano, tiny bit of sage)
white pepper.
Tinned tomatoes and tomato puree rather than a jar of red sauce. Dash of Worcester sauce.

Layer and always put plenty of cheese on the top of the final sauce layer.

Make far more than you think you'll need and then portion up when cold and freeze for emergencies.

Buy cheap course mince so there is some texture to the meat.

I cannot stand the more expensive or steak mince because its always so fine it just ends up as mush once cooked.

If making a decent sized one I use about half a bottle of red in the Ragu, mince onion garlic passata tomato puree dash of Balsamic vinegar and wine, reduce