Lasagna tips and tricks

[C0keZer0]

I'm determined to nail making a banging lasagna! I think first things first I need a decent lasagna dish...then my next problem has always been my pasta sheets actually cooking. But I wonder if that's because the tin I was using was too deep?

Any advise welcome as my DS loves lasagna and the ones from the market are really quite adding up!!!

Lots of people advise precooking even if the pack says not to. Not fully cook, soak in boiling water for 3-4 mins prior to use. It helps get them going and helps them not dry out

Also, it helps if you assemble everything cold. So let the sauce and the bolognaise cool before building the lasagne.

As many very thin layers as possible. Make the top layer of sauces thicker than the lower ones to "protect" the pasta below it.
Cook your meat sauce as long as possible. 2hrs is good. Longer is better.
Use beef and pork in it.
Fresh pasta, otherwise, do soak your dried lasagne sheets.

eat it reheated the next day

Another vote for cooking the meat as long as possible- I try and do 3 hours. Also I am a fan of using mozarella on the final layer.

Let it stand for 20-30 minutes after baking. Gives it time to firm up so it’s less of a sloppy mess on the plate.

I never ever pre-cook the sheets as otherwise everything is too wet.

Make your own bechamel, will be far better than a jar.
Also make it a 2 day after - make a nice bolognese sauce blipping on the stove for hours. First day spag bol, 2nd day lasagne. Sauce will taste better on the second day anyway.

Nigella Lawson's Lasagne of Love. It takes a while but my goodness, it's out of this world delicious and foolproof. It sits upright and doesn't slide. I put into two square containers, one of which goes into the freezer to cook from defrost (then add cheese topping). Honestly, I'll never cook lasagne another way.

I use gluten free pasta sheets - I don't ever pre soak, I just assemble it in the morning and cook it in the evening. If I can, I slow cook the Ragu sauce the day before adding grated carrot and a handful of lentils to the mince, toms, onions and really finely chopped celery.

I do this with chilli, we have chill and rice then the next day 'chilli' lasagne .......

If you are short of time (can't be arsed) making the béchamel sauce, then Waitrose do a very good version in a jar.

Yes this is crucial

I made this one and it was fab
Use fresh lasagne sheets so no soaking

www.dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk/best-lasagne-recipe/

No don't pre cook pasta sheets. You want some good ones...Barilla are good. I get mine from Sainsbury's

I use this sauce now my Italian friend recommended it so can't be bad!

Add half a teaspoon of nutmeg to the bechemal- delicious!

I start by buttering the dish and place first layer of pasta sheets
it makes it come clean off the bottom when serving

I made lasagne last night. Don’t make the bolognaise too wet. Make a good bechamel( grate nutmeg in) I only put bechamel on the top and not in the layers. I use a square , metal tin. And don’t butter it. I never pre cook the lasagne sheets. Put bolognaise in bottom then lasagne then two more meat layers so 3 pasta layers in total.Any more layers and it’s too pasta heavy and stodgy.

This.
No lasagne sheets need pre-cooking these days.
The Chef bechamel upthread is good. I use that plus a half quantity of my own.
Here we also add mozzarella to the bechamel but that's a regional thing (Puglia) I think.

I make my own pasta. It's incredibly easy and so much better. You also get the fun of experimenting with different flour types and pasta recipes.

You could also try fillings other than the traditional Bolognese. Two of my favourites are butter chicken lasagne and chilli con carne lasagne. I also prefer a cheese sauce on top rather than bechamel, but that's personal taste. Whatever sauce you go for though, make it from scratch. It's very easy and both better and cheaper than out of a jar or packet.

Also made a good pesto chicken lasagne over Christmas that everyone liked. Just add pesto and chicken to a white sauce

When I made lasagna I used a mix of pork and beef mince, celery, carrots and onions and once softened, cooked on a low heat in pasatta for a about 3-4 hours. I just kept on checking that it wasn't getting too dry. When layering the lasagna I alternated from horizontal on the first layer and vertical on the second layer and just kept repeating that process until I'd used the sheets and filling up. I just used dry lasagna sheets and any parts of the dish the lasagna sheets wouldn't fit into I just broke pieces off and filled the gaps in that way. No ones going to see it once everything else is on top of it. My bechamel sauce was maybe a little too thick. Then once it was cooked I let it cool down for around 15-20 mins before cutting it up. Letting it cool down slightly allows it to structure better as too does alternating the layers horizontally and vertically. One thing I did find and it was purely down to just letting the ragu absorbed just that little bit too much liquid was the first serving the sheets felt slightly hard still. But after that it was fine and the rest of the portions I froze and microwaved the sheets were nice and soft then. I quite fancy a lasagna now!

We hide lots of additional veg in the ragu, a finely chopped bell pepper, some mushrooms, sometimes some spinach, in addition to the regular onion, celery, carrot trio. For adding depth (and because of DC), I use a little bit of oyster sauce instead of red wine.

Bechamel sauce made with nutmeg, bay leaf. Bechamel in between layers as well as on top.

We also alternate the direction of layers like a PP.

Best lasagna I have ever had was a non-traditional veggie one by Delia, with (I think) goat's cheese. A student flatmate cooked it 15 years ago and I still remember it being fabulous.

I echo the comment about adding nutmeg to the white sauce, it’s a game changer. I saw that tip on a cooking show with elderly native Italians cooking their version of lasagna and they were very strict on adding in the nutmeg.

Im on

Yes I alternate sheet direction to hold it better and I snap sheets to make strips to cover any gaps. I use a pork/ beef mince mix but also use a tin of green lentils for a veggie version. Both will have celery, carrots and red wine added plus stock and a tin of tomatoes.