Making a lasagne from scratch

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Does anyone actually see the return of investment of time and money here?

I spent 2.5 hours making one (before it even went into the oven). The bechemel sauce took an hour. I don’t know where the time went but melting butter was fast and adding flour but stirring in all that milk and keeping the thickness too forever and I still ran out for the top layer which was devastating (it’s a one layer lasagne). Grating 50g Parmesan to go in is a work out, that’s before the 75g of cheddar to go on the top of it all. I did have kids with me but I wouldn’t ever bother doing it again.

I grew up eating dolmio made lasagnes and that’s how I was taught but since knowing that’s not the right way and additives etc, I’ve just bought lasagne from the deli or restaurants if I go out. Shop bought Charlie Bingham is lovely.

2.5 hours is such a long time. Does anyone do this regularly? It’s like two meals. A bolognaise then a bechemel and that’s before the art of the quantities and building the darn thing.

AIBU to feel so frustrated by this and not want to ever bother again. (Not going back to dolmio either)

It takes me a while but mostly how long the ragu cooks for. But I do enough for 8 portions and freeze as I live alone
its so nice to come home to just reheat it and add some salad and garlic bread!
but I find cooking therapeutic

Nonsense have you seen the ingredients in dolmio white sauce it is full of crap. Do you actually know what butter is? The only additive in butter would be salt.

No need for it to take 2.5hrs. One day make a big pot of bolognaise (maybe 1kg of mince) and have spaghetti bolognaise. Refrigerate the rest.

on lasagne day-
Two days later reheat bolognaise in microwave for 10-15 mins and while it reheats make the bechamel and preheat oven. Use fresh egg pasta sheets (don’t cook in water) and layer up your lasagne finishing with bechamel and grate Parmesan over and bung in the oven for 20- 30 mins. You can have home-made lasagne in less than 1hr and only 20 mins prep time. While it’s cooking, wash up the dishes so you only have the oven dishes and plates/cutlery to put in the dishwasher after

This is the one I use
veg I do in a mini chopper so no chopping
Grate nutmeg and Parmesan while the ragu is cooking and tear up the mozzarella so it’s all ready to assemble

https://www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/best-lasagne-recipe/

Buy Co-op Lasagne 2 for £8,

Bung one in freezer, eat other with garlic bread and salad

Done.

I cooked lasagna often, but depending on the time I have I would prep the sauces the day before or throughout the day.
I also batch cook the bechamel and freeze it. It doesn't take that much time to make, but it all adds up.

You can grate a carrot into the mince too, they never notice! And it helps cut the calorie count if that's something you need to consider.

Bechamel sauce doesn’t take long, bbc recipe works.

meat cooks for 45 mins

I’m making it tomorrow

I'm sure the bechamel takes me ten minutes. I usually make a bolognese sauce and have it with spaghetti and freeze the rest. Then when I was to make lasagne I just need the bechamel. No trouble

It’s up to you. But in the return on investment you should factor in the fact that your lasagne is so much healthier than readymade food. Not to mention should taste so much better. But if you want to skip the bechamel (which should take about 15 mins tbh), mix the meat sauce with cooked pasta shapes, in a casserole dish with some cheese on top - tasty and easier than all the layering.

All that takes 2.5 hours for me is how long I cook the ragu for before assembling the lasagne.
It can take a while for bechemel to thicken but if you heat the milk up first it is much quicker. It really should only take max 15 minutes to make.
When I first started to make lasagne I did find it stressful and used a lot of pans and utensils. But it really is, in essence, a ragu and a white sauce.

I usually make the bolognese in advance. I don't bother slow cooking it anymore so that takes about 20 mins. The bechamel takes a few minutes. Then a few minutes to compile everything.

OP doesn't want to eat shop-bought ones as they are full of additives.

Shop bought lasagna tastes like shit. Dolmio is sugary, sweet, artificial crap.
I don’t eat lasagna often because it takes an age to make but it’s a proper treat when I do. Totally worth the effort! I always make a massive one so there’s leftovers for the next day…more bang for your buck 😉

Wow!!

DH makes lasagne from scratch. Really from scratch as he makes the pasta sheets himself as well as all the sauces. It takes him significantly less than 2 hours from start to getting it on the table and it is delish.

He is not a chef or Italian. In fairness it has taken a while to get to this stage. Initially he used all ready made sauces and dried pasta sheets. Over time he has perfected the sauces. Within the last year he dug our pasta machine, which we bought over 30 years ago and used about twice, out from the under stairs cupboard and started experimenting. Now he has nailed it.

Can I come to yours please? Your DH’s lasagna sounds awesome.

Honestly cannot fathom how it’s taken you that long !

You can also just make the whole bechamel in the microwave if you're really worried about burning it.

https://www.indianveggiedelight.com/easy-microwave-white-sauce-3-min/#recipe

I make lasagne fairly often. I don’t follow a recipe and just have my own way of doing it. Béchamel sauce takes about 10 mins to make. The bolognaise about 20 mins. It’s not a particularly complicated process.

Good luck. You must continiously whisk the sauce.

DP makes lasagne from scratch including the pasta and it is so, so much more delicious than ready lasagnes (goes for any food really). The pasta has a lovely silky texture, the ragu is perfectly seasoned and deeply flavoured.

He says it's among the easier meals he makes - it's time-consuming but not especially difficult or fiddly or technical. When he does one - which will last several days - he usually does another to go in the freezer. So it's a few hours of cooking for over a week's worth of eating. Certainly seems worth it to me (though my contribution is only the washing up!)

Sounds like you're faffing a bit of it took 2.5 hours!
I always add cheese to the white sauce and wine to the mince - makes it even nicer 🥰

I think proper home made lasagne is definitely worth the effort (mine is anyway) but I totally agree with you about how long it takes to do it! I only do it for special occasions because it is a faff - but I do make the meat sauce in bulk so that I have some ready in the freezer to defrost. I need SO much cheese sauce in mine! I use a cheese sauce rather than a plain bechamel - I don't care that it's not correct - it is tasty. It does take a while to make in the quantities I need, but not 3/4 hour. I heat the milk separately while I'm making the roux rather than using all cold milk, that does help to speed it up.

If I was to make it all from scratch (apart from the pasta sheets which there is no way on earth I'm going to make) it would probably take me about 3 hours, but I do simmer the meat sauce for at least 2 hours before using it.

😀It is!

I'm wondering how the op grates the cheese if it's so arduous. It takes very little time using a good box grater.