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?

Tomatoes have naturally occurring sugars and as long as it’s under about 6g per 100g then it’s classed as low sugar. If you’re making a lasagna the amount of sugar is negligible and would be made up largely of the naturally occurring sugars in the tomatoes.

For the sake of time, ready made sauces pimped up with some added hidden veg, an extra pot of chopped tomatoes and herbs is perfectly acceptable.

Her name isn't Kay, is it?

Eurgh, that sounds minging. YANBU.

She probably flushes her ares clean in the bathroom too. not

Her plates *

Meat sauce needs to really simmer, it takes me about 90 minutes to make my recipes.

@OccultGnuAsWell
my last words will be 'bleurgh!' But not for a few days. I've not got mince in at the moment.

My parents used to cook lasagne this way when I was a kid. I can confirm that it was chewy and relatively flavourless... The main taste came from the (cheap) powdered stock used so there was no depth of flavour. I hated mince of any sort as a child.

I had lasagne at a friend's house in my 20s and it was a revelation. I now use a lasagne recipe that takes two days to make but tastes divine. My parents ask me to make it every time they visit but still insist lasagne made with raw mince is perfectly normal!!

YANBU you are doing it right.

I normally cook a big batch of meat sauce, then have spag bol and save the rest for lasagne, or freeze.

I cook the ragu very slowly for about three hours, minimum.

I got the shits reading this 🤢

@Crowsaregreat

Thank you for the Maillard link.
I'm no science boffin but I really found this so interesting - I have never heard of it before.

And Op - you are quite right. Your friend's lasagne sounds like a bad meal at The Greasy Spoon caff.

@picklemewalnuts - should I stand by with a vomit receptacle?

What day is your shopping day for mince?

I realise I'm now unhealthily over invested in this lasagne

@ScottChegg - I know a Kay who is an awful cook too...

I've found some in the freezer, gnu. Tomorrow could be the day, why not?!

Where does the herbs and flavouring come from (Worcester sauce, red wine, oxo and herbs)?

@LadyGAgain

Where does the herbs and flavouring come from (Worcester sauce, red wine, oxo and herbs)?

A couple of bay leaves are good.

This has triggered memories of my mum’s midweek lasagna. She’d mix a couple of tins of mince in gravy with a couple of tbsps of tomato purée in a bowl, heat a pint of milk in a pan and thicken it with cornflour and mix in a few tbsp of that dried Parmesan kept in the cupboard. Then layer it up with lasagna sheets. It was utterly foul and the sight of her emptying the tins in a bowl and the smell, it was just like dog food, would make me heave.

I don’t know why she did it because she was/is such a good cook and had lived in Italy for some years and cooked for Italian families. She new it was shit but it was way of walking thru the door at 6.30 and having. Lasagna on the table at 7pm. When I got to a certain age I refused to eat it and she eventually stopped making it. I think she’d got it from a magazine in the 70s. This may be why some people think forrin food is horrible!

@Sidewalksue

All you would need to add Jack Monroes method of making a roux in a blender (not cooked) and it could be the worst meal ever.

Oh god I remember that, poor Matt! 😂

So everyone on here makes own sauce and simmers for hours

I make my own but generally don’t have time for it to simmer for ages. Half an hour to an hour normally. If I’m doing just bolognese, I leave it longer, don’t know why.

I've found some in the freezer, gnu. Tomorrow could be the day, why not?!

Oo-er Walnuts, only if you're sure? Will you base the family meal around it? I fear I'll be hunted down by the entire Walnut clan if it's awful. . .

As long as it's in the oven long enough to cook it's fine from a food safety perspective.

I'm not sure it would taste much like lasagne to me - maybe more like a beef pasta bake?

Have you ever tasted her version? Has she ever tasted any other lasagne?

Fuck me, that sounds rank. Please do not ever accept a dinner invitation to her house, for all our sakes

She clearly doesn’t know how to make lasagna.

Always did the meat before cooking.