Making a lasagne from scratch

[tangerinemagic]

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 eat lasagna but like making it and family loves it. I make loads so prep can take longer, but once you have your meat and sauce simmering not much else to do. Bechamel sauce is pretty quick too. I always put everything in fridge overnight. Meat sauce is always better that way. And layer up next day. When everything is really cold it stops it all going to mush. Either freeze at that stage in individual tubs for cooking or cook then portion up afterwards. Means you can have plenty of meals in freezer for easy dinners

So many allergies/intolerances in this house, I have no option but to make it from scratch. I do get away with pre-made GF pasta sheets though.

I usually make a big batch of bolognaise & make up a couple at a time (freeze one or both before final cook) whilst still having some left to convert into a chilli or cottage pie too.
I don’t bother measuring anything for the white sauce, couple of big spoons of gf flour, big knob of butter. Add the (lacto free) milk until the thickness seems right. Chop up the cheese to melt in it (faster than grating & no different once melted) sprinkle of grated over the top. I’ve got much quicker over the years. But still a labour of love. I agree if you can find a really good shop bought one (that intolerances allow) then go for that.

I can't see the point in making the pasta from scratch. Dried pasta sheets are excellent. I buy the green ones (getting harder to find).

Mine takes longer but most of that is leaving it to simmer away unattended. I love the flavour of a long, slow cook. I also make my own pasta but have a kitchen aid so its pretty easy. I always do a couple for the freezer so it definitely feels worth it. The jars taste disgusting.

I use a cheese sauce instead of bechamel 👌

I only make veggie ones, and I'm fussy about peeling tomatoes and peppers, slow cooking onions and all that. Then there's a vegan bechamel to make if the vegan's home, so double the assembly time. No, I am bloody not making a vegan one for everybody. It's about the taste. I would say it takes about 90 minutes, and that's because I leave the dairy elements until I can set the vegan dish aside to avoid cross- contamination.
Definitely worth it, but I have to feel up to the job. I wouldn't bother doing a half-arsed version. I could buy that in or get someone else to make a sub-par one.

I suppose it technically takes me about three hours but that's because I like the mince to simmer and soften - I'm not actually in the kitchen the whole time! Bechemal takes ten mins max and I buy grated parmesan and cheddar from Lidl. The time spent actually putting together the ingredients etc is about 20mins in total, then cooking time. No way does it take 2.5 hours! I wouldn't bother if it did

This! I love lasagna but it’s a relatively quick thing to throw together!

We make it once a week from scratch and only takes about an hour, including 40 minutes in the oven. My kids are fussy though so it's very simple: bolognese is frozen diced onion, mince, passata and beef stock. Very quick to fry, then while it's simmering I make the white sauce - once when DH made it he forgot to add butter (!), the kids preferred it (?!) so now I literally add cornflour and milk to a saucepan, whisk a bit, and it's done in 10 minutes. We don't even add any cheese. I think it tastes pretty bland, but the kids like it 🤷‍♀️
DH used to do the delia recipe which admittedly tasted delicious, but it would take him 4 hours and generally ruin all our plans for the weekend. It didn't even have any different ingredients, he just cooked everything more slowly and made a big production over it.

I agree that good dried pasta is excellent - I also love lasagne verde. I make pasta because my dad did, I love doing it, and we keep chickens so always have a lot of eggs to use.

I love homemade pasta, and much prefer it for some dishes, but often use dried pasta for quick weekday stuff.

I think theres probably a lot of substandard lasagnes being eaten to be fair given how quickly some of these are being put together.

It always takes me forever to male lasagne. I've found that making the bolognaise a day or two earlier then the bechemele and finally building it into a lasagne makes it more manageable.
It's a faff but is great for feeding a crowd with a salad and garlic bread mmmmmm

I do a one-pot version that takes a fraction of the time and everyone loves. I’m sure puritans would be shocked but I don’t have time or inclination for the whole thing. If I want a ‘proper’ lasagne I buy a Cook version or a Charlie Bigham!

I make lasagne regularly, but I don't make the ragu on the same day. I make a massive quantity of Delia Smith's Ragu Bolognese, have some with spaghetti that day and freeze the rest. Then on the day I make the lasagne I only have to do the bechamel, put it together and pop it in the oven, takes less than an hour, and makes at least two meals for our family of three.
I love lasagne! Home made is much nicer.

@tangerinemagicreading your updates it’s clear this is less about the lasagne (admittedly fiddly) and more about your DH being grumpy and unkind when you’ve tried so hard to do a lovely thing for everyone, in difficult circumstances. It sounds like he’s having a stressful time too, but if he’d come home and said, “oh, homemade lasagne, what a nice treat, I can’t believe you’ve managed to whip this up while looking after the DC”, I’m sure you’d be feeling very different (including about lasagne). Hope you get to reset and things calm down.

Honestly OP, try this one. My two little kids love it. Her books are brilliant. Apologies for state of the page, it’s well used!

dolmio

... & that's including the time it takes to grate the nutmeg.

Make it regularly and I don't think it's ever taken 2.5 hours!

Havent RTFT but Delia's all in one béchamel sauce takes about 5 minutes to make. The ragu I batch cook so I'll either make it when I've just made a batch or will get a portion out of the freezer. I occasionally make fresh pasta but that doesn't take that long either.

It's a quick and delicious thing to make. The more you do it the quicker it gets.

I make 4 portions of soffrito whenever I get a head of celery in the veg box then freeze it. I use this when I make ragu and freeze half the meat sauce for a lasagne. I also get DH to grate & freeze strong cheddar cheese when we've used part of a packet. When it's time for lasagne, I defrost the ragu, make bechamel in the microwave (melt butter in heated milk, whisk in flour then reheat, whisk again, add defrosted cheese, heat briefly) then assemble lasagne. Top with tomato slices & parmesan and if it takes more than 20 mins to make plus cooking time then I'd be disappointed!

Home made lasagne is a thing of joy - I make the bolognaise ahead of time in a huge batch. From there I’ll make two family trays of lasagne along with 3/4 individual ones for when I’m home alone. So around 6 or 7 nights dinner for 2 hours of cooking. All good.

I used to when all 8 of us were here. It was vasty cheaper but took so long we hardly ever had it. Was absolutely delicious though.

Now its just me and youngest still at home and she isnt keen, so I just buy ready made. I do miss home made but for one person it really isnt worth the faff, and I dont think it freezes very well.

Lasagne is a ball ache but definitely worth it imo.

I don't make it that often but do a roasted veg version if it's me and my best mate and a meat version if it's me and DD.

I sometimes take shortcuts like shop bought bechamel/cheese sauce, but it's never quite as good.

Sometimes I make double quantity of bolognese or roasted veg and freeze half which cuts the time down a bit.

I bet it tastes divine. I totally see the point when the pasta is going to be used in a dish with fewer ingredients. One thing I've never made! One day I'll have a go at tagliatelle.

You could have ten young children and it wouldn’t take over two hours.