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)

I don't understand how bechamel took you 1 hour?! It's probably more like 15 mins or something? Melt butter, add cornflour, add milk, add cheese, stir? Hardly one hour?! Two hours would probably be from starting to gather ingredients to lasagne ready to be eaten and all pots pans etc washed and dried and put away

I mentioned cheddar. I would add cheddar. I like cheddar

The only reason the Italians dont use cheddar is because they dont really have it, their hard cheese of choice is parmesan or pecorino, both are fine, both have their merits, even both at the same time.

What on earth are you doing to your bechamel to take that long. It takes 10 mins max - melt butter, add flour to make a roux and then whisk in the milk gradually. I don’t measure milk just add until the correct consistency. Then add cheese and combine. And with butter / flour it’s a simple equal amount of each.

Making the bolognese technically takes a long time if you want it decent as it needs time to simmer. But just leave and pop back to give a little stir. But then I think a bolognese with minimal simmer time is ok in a lasagna anyway once combined with bechamel and cheese etc.

Make two, or even three, at a time and freeze? Hardly any more work and SO nice to have waiting for you!

I was really pleased with mine. Some of the tips on here are great

I did infuse the bechamel with the cloved onion etc.

Sainsbury’s mince 5%

I can make a bechamel in no time but I keep this in my larder and when I make bolognese I make double and freeze, then I can make a lasagne in no time with that and this

Chef Parmalat Classic Bechamel Sauce 500g – Partridges

Exactly this.
I try to do two huge trays at once, they divvy into 10x double portions in foil takeaway containers and freeze.

I don’t understand, from scratch as opposed to a microwave meal??? I assume you meant also making the pasta from scratch

Lasagne is nice but a completely overwhelming mess from start to finish.

Far too late to this thread but a brilliant domestic science teacher taught me to just use flour, butter and milk from cold in a pan to make bechamel (trust your instincts on quantity) and then gently heat.

From scratch as opposed to using jar sauce

Oh OP, what a shame your DH is taking out his work frustrations on you and was so ungracious at your efforts. He doesn't deserve home-cooked food!

I think a lot of posts have been taking issue with an hour to make your béchamel, but clearly most of them haven't read your later posts or they'd understand what you were up against, and how upsetting it was to have your DH disrespect your work. I'm glad he was appreciative later on, but life's too short to spend hours cooking lovely stuff for someone who doesn't appreciate it. He needs to know this.

I always end up with not quite the right amounts of either the ragu or the béchamel, but then I never really follow a recipe for lasagne! If you make bolognaise sauce for pasta more often than lasagne, then next time, why not make double the amount, freeze or fridge half, and then you've got that for your next lasagne. I make the béchamel by starting with a stupid amount of butter, and then add as much plain flour as you can without it being mealy-dry. Cook it in a bit while making sure it doesn't burn, then start adding the milk slowly, and whisk like mad, and be prepared to use quite a lot of it!

Sod not adding cheddar, I like a nice cheesy lasagne and put it in as well as parmesan!

Do you not own a cheese grater? Grating 50g of Parmesan and 75g cheese takes 1 min tops!

Béchamel sauce takes maximum 15 mins.

Browning the mince and throwing some chopped tomatoes, tomato purée and herbs, maybe some mushrooms as well takes 10 mins and then simmer while you make the sauce.

Takes 20-30mins. I have no idea what you were doing g for 2.5 hours? Making pasta from scratch??

Completely agree. I am quick in the kitchen but a lasagne is way too much work. When I go out for dinner, go to a decent Italian and order their lasagne. Mine never comes out right either Too much sauce or too little and layers never stay together as they should

I made a lasagne tonight in about an hour and a half tonight, I was quite slow because I’m not feeling fantastic! It’s something I’ve made a lot and when you have to refer to a recipe it’s a lot lot slower. When you speed up chopping that helps tons. I have a lot of veggies in tonight’s, so it took me a while - onion, pepper, courguette, aubergine, carrot, celery.
I was tired so I forgot to add the herbs - added it to the white sauce on top and it’s actually still tasty so it’s saved!
I know exactly what I need though so I get everything ready on the counter (the tray, the pots, all utensils, veg, meat, cheese, milk, flour, etc.
I don’t weight anything. That speeds it up too, I do it by eye, and I adjust the sauce thickness as I go if I need to, but I’ve made white sauce so many times that I know what I need to achieve the consistency pretty well first time round. I don’t always infuse it - if I’ve got more time I will, but it a basic white sauce is still better than a jar.
I promise you - if I can learn how to cook quickly (and multi task, with several pots on the go, making sides on the go as well) then, anyone can! It just takes practise, the more you memorise, and the more you chop, the faster you’ll get.
Also, you can grate cheese in a food processor.

I’m fast, but a full lasagne with loads of veggies does take some time to prep. Even I’ll admit that!

You’re doing something very wrong. 15 mins for bechemel. Melt butter add flour stir. Keep stirring add milk slowly, then nutmeg. I usually make the bolognese beforehand say a double batch that I pull from the freezer. My base is processed celery, carrot, courgette, plenty of veg also add some red lentils, garlic and beef stock cube. All comes out very delicious.

Yes deffo nutmeg 👊

And Lentils is a good shout!

I cheat. I make bolo/ragu in slow cooker day before. Layer up pasta and ragu then wack bisto cheese sauce on top with pre grated cheddar.

I've often found that the dish takes ages for the lasagne sheets to soften. Although, I do attempt 4/5 layers and the ragu sauce is meant to be rich and not too thin or else it'll be tasteless. It bakes in the oven for around 1hr but it the sheets are still not cooked through/softened.

Where am I going wrong?

I only ever make it from scratch, but never takes more than 45mins max

Are you my son? He took an hour to make some pastry the other week. For a normal, competent cook, the white sauce for a lasagne should take no more than 15-20 minutes.

The only way I could imagine that taking an hour would be if you were following a fancy recipe that involved heating the milk with onion, spices etc. and leaving it for the flavours to infuse for a while. Even that wouldn't really take up an hour of your time though - you'd heat it, add other ingredients, and get on with other stuff.

I will admit I rarely make a classic lasagne from scratch, though. I tend to make a big batch of ragu/bolognese sauce, freeze portions, then use some of them to make lasagne another time.

It is like cooking 2 meals. If I am going to the effort of making lasagna I double up on my quantities and make 2 lasagne, 1 for that night and 1 for the freezer.

If you use dry sheets the sauce needs to be wet enough to allow the sheets to absorb the liquid and soften and cook. Try using fresh or parboiling the dry sheets first or leaving your sauce wetter.