Making Lasagne without destroying your kitchen!

[Anonymousbird]

I absolutely love lasagne, but am yet to discover a way of making it without multiple pans and just generally it being a complete faff and fiddle. It seems a disproportionately huge amount of effort for a supper dish!

Is it just me, or is this the norm?

BTW, I don't want to use any jar sauces...

Thanks.

I never cook it all in one go, I do a big batch of spag bol one night and freeze the leftover mince, then make lasagne another night. All you have to do then is the white sauce. Gone are the days when I had the time to spend hours in the kitchen

a chopping board
knife
cheese grater
2 saucepans - one for white/cheese sauce other for meat/veg sauce
oven proof dish
wooden spoon or 2

no different from any other meal is it?

if you wash the pans etc as the lasagne is in the oven, it seems like less to me

how are you making yours then

Glynis - what you say makes sense. I cook plenty of things that use the items you describe, but I don't know why, with lasagne? I seem to have a complete mental block and end up using everything.

Ridiculous (on my part!).

I need to get a grip!

don't get a grip

they are hell to wash up

Dearie me woman, if that's a struggle I hope you never make fish pie!

Pan for tatties, pan for eggs, pan to poach fish in, pan for white sauce, pan for veg, dish for pie.

Wish I didn't like it so much!

Easy, just buy premade tomato and cheese sauces ;)

I just heat up the mince (lamb as it tastes better) then chuck in the tomato sauce.

All I need to do then is layer the lasagne sheets with the bolognese and cheese sauce.

Oh I suppose you need a grater too.

It's the norm.

It's why Italians only eat it on Sunday and their aged mothers get up at 5 to do it.

Or why we buy it ready made from the deli man.

Glynis, I'd need to add 1 pan for infusing the milk, + sieve for sieving infused milk + sieve for sieving flour if I can be arsed + scissors for cutting bacon. Plus time spent cleaning up spilled flour, boiled over milk and bits of bolognese sauce. OP YANBU, I think that the assembly process is genuinely more messy than for most other meals where things stay in their pans.

Mmmm, lasagne.

Shrek - that is the ridiculous thing, I can do fish pie with my eyes closed, and it causes me no stress (despite several pans, I agree).

OK, I need to start afresh with this. It's irrational.

You need to batch cook a ragu, have the portions in the freezer, then make the lasagne. I think its impossible to make a lasagne from scratch in one day as I like my ragu to cook for 2 hrs plus.

Once again the white sauce can easily be frozen, so make enough to use one and freeze one. I dont find it that messy.

If it makes you feel better, make several dishes of lasagne at a time.
I normally make one dish to bake and eat today, plus at least two more for the freezer (plus a smaller dish or two for the children's tea when I'm going out somewhere).

It makes the washing up feel much less onerous when I gaze in satisfaction at my well-stocked freezer.