God this is embarrassing but I have never made a lasagne before....

[CharlotteBronteSaurus]

...and all the recipes I can find need fresh lasagne. Problem is the Sainsburys man substituted dried lasagne sheets. It says on the side of the box that they don't need precooking, but in that case how will I need to adjust the timings on the lasagne recipe that requires fresh lasagne?

thanks..

Just make your ragu a bit more runny so the pasta can cook and follow the instructions on the lasagne packet.

or blanch them in boiling water before you assemble it

The good thing about lasagne imo is that you prettyy much can't do it wrong. Just layer the dry sheets and bung in the oven for about 20 mins.

I've never had a problem with them not cooking, I use one tin of tomatoes to about 1lb of mince and don't add any more liquid and its always fine, in fact I'm making one this morning as well

CharlotteBronte I just wanted you to know you are not alone!
I too have never made a Lasagne. I'm one of those people who buys the ingredients but never gets round to making it (whatever it may be).

Lasagne is brilliant, I make a massive one, we get two dinners out of it for three of us and some for the freezer. Bung some garlic bread in and salad and voila. It makes me feel like I can cook!

I use the fresh lasagne sheets though, never pre-cook them. I make sure there's loads of sauce and cheese to soften them :o

It's really foolproof, promise. I don't know anybody who uses fresh pasta all the time. The dry stuff is so easy. Make up your bolognese mix, ditto your white sauce and then layer in this order: pasta, bolognese, white sauce and repeat, finishing with white sauce on top. Top with grated cheese and cook for half an hour ish until the cheese is bubbling and has a nice colour to it.

I made a lasagne last night and those 'you don't have to cook first' sheets are great - the most difficult bit about lasagne is making a unlumpy white sauce- but then you just put it through a sieve don't you??

You don't do anything different when using no pre cook dried sheets. The clue's in the name. Follow recipe as is.

You don't do anything different when using no pre cook dried sheets. The clue's in the name. Follow recipe as is.

Sorry for double post. Damn phone.

Sorry for double post. Damn phone.

excellent, thanks all
although i do get a bit nervous when promised things are foolproof, as these seem to be the things I tend to balls up

Echo the advice to make the tomato sauce element a little more runny than you would normally. The no pre cook sheets will soak it up. Other tip with the dry sheets is to make sure you put a good layer of the white/bechamel sauce over the top and spread it out so that no corners of dry pasta are showing. This means the top sheets will soften in the oven rather than go hard and crunchy. Finally.... don't overlap the sheets.