What makes your lasagne special?

[flugelhorn81]

I make lasagne quite often, and am trying to perfect it. I've played around with adding pancetta, porcini and roasted aubergine or peppers. Does anyone make an amazing lasagne and what makes yours special?

A spoon of n'duja and a bayleaf simmered in the ragu and truffle oil in the cheese sauce.

I am intrigued by pate in the ragu! Chicken liver?

We use flour tortillas instead of pasta.

My white sauce has onions, garlic and cheese in.

Pinch of cinnamon when cooking the meat/tomato sauce, all the cheese

Have been making a veggie lasagne for years with spinach, artichoke hearts and a pesto sauce. Best recipe I've ever had and it comes out every Summer as soon as it's warm enough to eat outside.

Love the basil leaves idea. I put lots of veg in the sauce and goat's cheese on top 10 mins from the end of cooking time... Drool!

I got the basil leaves idea from watching Sopranos, it was Carmella's signature

I will definitely have to look this thread up the next time I am making lasagna

I always add a splash of milk to the meat at the end of cooking. (apparently it tenderises the meat) and it seems to bring the sauce together.
Also, I let the meat sauce cool before assembling, as if too hot, the pasta seems to suck up the moisture.

And on the subject of pork/beef mix, Morrisons also do packs (think they call it 'bolognese mince'.)

Worcester sauce, balsamic vinegar and cinnamon in the sauce

A tablespoon of cocoa in the meat sauce adds a depth to it that you can't imagine!

I use ricotta (mix a tub up with half a tub of lukewarm water) instead of white sauce - makes it much lighter (and one fewer saucepan to wash up).

Yep chicken liver pate (though pork will do if you cannot get it). It is just a chest on using chicken livers ala Delia

Just a cheat not chest!

Add ricotta

I also do pork & beef, and add lots of nutmeg. I use homemade meat stock (chicken or pork usually) in the ragu and go easy on the tinned tomatoes.

I use: celery, onions, carrots, garlic, green peppers whizzed to a paste in the blender and fried, then I add my half beef, half pork mince along with a beef stockpot, loads of Worcester sauce and loads of dried mixed herbs. Once the mince is browned, I put in most of a bottle of wine, whack the heat right up until it bubbles just for a minute, then simmer for 10 more mins before adding pasatta, tomato purée, a splash of balsamic, a teaspoon of sugar and loads of torn basil. Simmer on a low/medium heat for several hours until the consistency is right. When the red sauce is nearly done I fry chopped bacon and add that too.

The white sauce: first I chop an onion and add that to my milk along with peppercorns, bay leaves and nutmeg, and bring to the boil. As soon as the milk boils I turn off the heat under it and add it slowly to my roux. I use quite a stiff roux to give the lasagne structure. Once the sauce is smooth I add in loads of cheddar and Parmesan then layer up the lasagne. I finish with a thin layer of white sauce on top then grate lots of Parmesan onto it. It’s AMAZING.

Switch to butternut squash, sage and goats cheese

Adding a decent red wine and freshly grated nutmeg to the ragu sauce also peps it up

Creme Fraiche in the white sauce

I always use celery even though I normally don't bother with it!

I think the ingredients which made me particularly happy with mine include;
Bone broth instead of stock
Worcestershire sauce
Passata instead of tinned tomatoes and tomato purée in addition to this
Cheese sauce including mozerella, cheddar and Parmesan
Nutmeg in cheese sauce
Chopped rosemary

Fennel seeds make my lasagna taste gorgeous!

Herbs mixed into the cheese.

I've recently been using a mozarella, cheddar mix for my sauce and topping with mozzarella and sprinkling with oregano and basil, it's very tasty 😋