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?

Chorizo.

And don't be shy with it !!

Also a blob of tomato ketchup in the sauce.

More info on the veggie recipes please! Butternut squash, sage and goats cheese? Spinach and artichoke? Dried or tinned puy lentils - what’s the rest of the recipe? DH is pescatarian and this thread is reminding me how much I like lasagne. I used to do a pretty good one with roast veg and pine nuts, which I haven’t made for ages - similar to the Hsppy Pear one linked above (although I didn’t think of roasted garlic in the sauce) with the addition of a couple of handfuls of pine nuts.

@DrWhy I use this
www.waitrose.com/home/recipes/recipe_directory/r/roasted_butternut_squash_and_goats_cheese_lasagne.html

My Puy lentil filling is something along the lines of:
diced onions, carrots, celery, red pepper, garlic - fry
Add balsamic vinegar, red wine, herbs, pasatta and cook for ages (I stick it in the oven)

Meanwhile roast halved shallots, chunks of red pepper and quartered mushrooms.

Stir roast vege into tomatoey vege and add one of those packets of cooked Puy lentils (I used to use dried, in with the passata but this is easier)

Use to layer up the lasagne as usual.

And please can I have the artichoke recipe?

Crime fresh instead of white sauce. Has to be full fat though, the half fat stuff curdles.

that sounds lovely Remus thanks

i don't put bacon in mine as everyone moaned last time i did that.
I do use a spoonful of Total Sweet (xylitol) or brown sugar. red wine. celery. onions, browned mince,
i roast salad tomatoes in salt pepper oil and then blitz in nutribullet before adding to sauce.

i use dried lasagne sheets do you all use fresh?

Dried sheets here - have never tried with fresh.

I feel i would just break them. and they're not hanging around in my larder.

I use dried sheets. Wilko do a square glass oven dish which fits lasagne sheets really well

I pre cook the pasta. Even the stuff that claims you don’t need to. It’s a faff though, the best thing is to use a wide shallow pan. I haven’t thought of using fresh pasta - that could be a better idea.

I can't tell you as it's a secret family recipe
However I can categorically say bechamel or any form of white sauce has no place in our families lasagne, obviously Italian cooking is very regional but in my biased opinion our pugliese family recipe is the best.
It takes a minimum of 8 hours to make has three different types of meat plus salami, ham, boiled eggs and various other things.
Me and my mum make it for special occasions at the house and every person that has tried it has been blown away by it.

Wow, some brilliant suggestions here! I might try the pate idea or chorizo next time. It seems everyone does theirs slightly differently...

My Mum used to make a gorgeous seafood lasagne - the original recipe included prawns but she used tuna as it had a lot more flavour. The topping included crisps & the whole thing was one of my fav things to eat. I will post the recipe later

Cubed chorizo in with the sauce is gorgeous. Definitely trying the pesto idea too!

Bacon lardons, a few beef stock pot, mustard in the cheese sauce, a shit tonne of garlic and for the topping a blend of grated marscapone and cheddar. Gooey heaven.

The lack of white sauce is what makes my lasagna amazing!! I use creme fraiche and Parmesan on the lasagna sheets

My DP does the cooking but he uses mushrooms, onion, celery, red wine a mix of pork and beef mince and cooks for aaaages. He also puts chorizo in it as well that we all love!

Thanks very much Grump and Remus! I’m in a total food rut so I’ll give both of those a try. I often add cooked red lentils to a veggie bolognaise but they go to mush and basically just become a thickener, puy lentils would have more texture. I’m on mat leave at the moment so I’m not in an after work rush but meals I can do bit by bit are good!

Chicken livers and milk in the ragu.

I once had a delicious lasagne at an acquaintance's house and there was a definite taste of aniseed in it. What would that have been?? I've often wondered and should have asked at the time but I was young and didn't know the cook very well!

Luuuuuv cooking lasagne. I think pps have covered most of mine but I will try to use many of these:
Celery carrot onion mushroom and green pepper maybe aubergine in the ragu, so we get lots of veg (depends what we have!)
Only beef - daughter won't eat pork
Red wine
Will cook ragu for ages - often in a slow cooker
Layers of griddled courgette slices
Porcini mushroom stock
An egg beaten into the white sauce (often use a jar 🤦🏻‍♀️)
Plenty of nutmeg
Top with cheddar and scatter on some basil leaves before baking
Not saying it's authentic, but it's yum. I'll try out a few new tips from here next time!

Aniseed may have been a dash of pernod. Goes surprisingly well with cooked tomatoes and red meat although I usually only use it in ratatouille and in a rata t ish lamb casserole.

Aniseed - fennel seeds possibly?

Loving the suggestions adding milk is a new one on me - will try! I always use passata instead of chopped tomatoes and add torn basil leaves.
Using fresh lasagne sheets was a game changer for me !