AIBU to think you can't make lasagne with raw mince?

[HetMeal]

I had a mild debate with a friend today who says you don't need to cook/brown the meat before you put it in the lasagne. She would do pasta sheets, white sauce, tomato basil sauce from a jar, raw minced beef, in layers.

I do it the normal way, cooking a tomatoey meat sauce first and layering that with bechamel and pasta sheets. She said using raw meat is a perfectly legitimate time saver and tastes fine.

I can't get my head around this, and wondering whether anyone else does it this way?

Well you can

But would you?

That would be pretty greasy, wouldn't it? Yikes.

Minced beef is generally from the lesser quality cuts of meat. I can imagine if it isn't cooked properly prior to adding to a lasagne then the meat will be tough and gristly...and flavorless if it's not cooked and marinated in a yummy ragu first.

yuk

Gross. Although I was at a friends house and she was making chilli and she cooked the whole thing for 5 minutes. I slow cook mine all day, there’s definitely a point the mince changes texture.

If only Uncle Roger had an Italian friend.

That sounds disgusting!

Mince needs to be fried off then, simmered with tomatoes, stock, purée and at least half a bottle of red wine for the whole day before it goes in lasagne.

It wouldn't make you ill but it's not going to be as nice

She's is BU, everyone knows you make the ragu and have bolognese the first night and lasagne the next.

Euw

She clearly doesn't have a clue, OP. It's all about the ragú. This reminds me of a long ago thread where someone claimed that lasagne was a quick and easy dish to throw together and a big contingent of us lined up to say: ARE YOU MAD?

Yak. Just YAK.
Bet she fries eggs in a deep fat fryer too - same outcome 😬🤮

Well. That’s put a downward slant on my day.

I have cooked mince in the oven with onions garlic capsicum tomatoes (tinned fresh or pasta or puree whatever I have) with Worcester Sauce & basil in a pot with lid for at least an hour (stirring from time to time)THAN when the sauce is cooked I would use this in lasagne - you can do it this way if you have other jobs or dc underfoot (safer) instead of cooking on stove top & this isn't difficult to do
Cooking raw mince with sauce straight into lasagne means not only half raw mince but you won't have a nice full flavour

Minimum 2 hours simmer time for the meat sauce here before it goes in the lasagne. As PPs have said the meat would be cooked so it won't kill you, but it won't be tge best lasagne you've ever eaten.

Sounds revolting !! I like to make a bolognaise sauce first and then start to layer up.

Well I'm sure you can but why would you want to? Lasagne tastes great when it's made with love. My meat gets browned and added to the sauce ( homemade always) and then slow cooked in the oven for hours before it sees a sheet of pasta. It's delicious and only gets made once a month. It's a real treat.

She doesn't understand cooking, does she?

I have a colleague who used to have a lovely friend who made the most disgusting lasagne every time she visited. She used to dread going round there to eat this abomination. I suspect you have a mutual friend.

(being me it would cook for longer than one hour! gets distracted! )

Yuk. Imagine how much fat the raw mince must release into the lasagne.

So vile and lazy ... your friend

Even the thought of this makes me feel nauseous!! The fat coming out of the mince...

Your friend needs some cookery lessons

She should rinse the mince first ..

Sounds revolting!