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!!!

Ring the changes & try a seafood lasagne - DM makes one with tuna which is to die for! I’ll see if she still has the recipe & post it for you.

I've literally just finished a mouthful of excellent lasagne!!! My bolognaise has several key things going on:

Base of finely chopped tinned anchovies, sundried tomatoes, garlic then a tonne of finely chopped onions, carrot and celery slowly fried for at least 10 mins until nice and dark
Pork and beef mince - fatty is good, none of the extra lean steak mince. I'd rather have a smaller portion of something divine.
One more ton of tomatoes than you think - I reckon it's this that let's the pasta cook properly.

For the lasagne:

Done be stingy with sauce layers
Nutmeg, Parmesan, S&P on or in white sauce layer
Yes to assemble and let it 'sog in' for a bit if you have time
Slower longer cook 180 fan
Parmesan on top plus grated cheddar

I assemble all mine in the morning and leave to marinade, then cook in the evening, just make sure all pasta is fully covered well.

I put great dollops of ricotta in mine in addition to the homemade béchamel. A lovely gooey surprise once cooked!

Buy decent Italian lasagne sheets, they cook in 20 minutes. I have never precooked lasagne sheets in my life. No need for it.

Agree with @FusionChefGeoff no steak mince - that is for burgers only.

Fat is where the flavour is so you need mince with some fat in it.

I don't know if anyone already said this but
A small bit of water in the base of your dish before the lasagne sheets. No need to preboil the sheets. The water steams the bottom layers so it all cooks evenly

Also agree about pork and beef mince. Also for Bolognese and homemade burgers.

Also, add more salt than you think. If the tomato is too acidy, add salt, not sugar.

I start with a layer of sauce in the bottom of the tin, that way the pasta sheets don't stick. Also don't do a layer of meat, then pasta, then a layer of bechamel but a big spoonful of bechamel in the meat sauce. The only layer which is only bechamel is the top one. (with cheese obviously)

Lasagna is my "friends coming for dinner" dish. I rarely make anything else as people always request lasagna and i can actually cook other things.

My tips.

Long slow simmer on the ragu. I normally start it cooking after lunch and then keep it simmering away slowly until assembly time which is late afternoon/early evening.

Meat-wise I use either beef, beef/ pork, or lamb depending on the combination of guests as I have both hindu and muslim friends. Unless the non drinking muslim is coming I always add red wine (even for kids).

I make my own béchamel / white sauce using an old delia recipe that contains cream (so possibly not very traditional!) I always add nutmeg.

Assembly is meat, pasta, white sauce, meat, pasta, white sauce, meat, pasta, white sauce. Cheese. The top white sauce layer should be thick and totally cover the pasta underneath.

I tend to use whatever cheese is lurking in the fridge on top - so cheddar always and sometimes parmesan, mozzarella or brie remnants.

Long slow oven cook. It tends to have visible sauce on day 1 (which I like) but by Day 2 it will hold it's shape when you lift it out of the dish.

Where can you buy the Chef bechamel sauce mentioned by a couple of people upthread? I’ve never seen it in any of my local supermarkets

Add a good dollop of caramelised onion chutney to the bolognese if it tastes too tarte - gives great balance to the dish. Lidl's chutney is lovely.

Ocado

No way would I add water at the bottom. And I make sure my ragu is pretty dry before putting it in.

Never had an issue with the sheets not being cooked.

It shouldn't be sloppy at the end.

It’s nice to cook the meat longer but the one I did the other day was 30 mins plus oven time and was still delish so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.

Agree with pork and beef mince mixture. One of the best lasagne's I've made had left over sausages in and it was excellent. Chicken livers and bacon add depth of flavour too if you like a rich lasagne.

Long cooking of the meat is helpful, but if that's not an option, you can cook the assembled lasagne longer, on a lower temperature with foil on and then remove the foil for the last 15 minutes or so to get the cheesy crust.

Cook it very slowly, that is the key.

Homemade Ragu
Homemade bechamel

Lasagne verdi

Topped off with fresh cheeses for the final half hour.

Leave it for 15 minutes before serving.

I've not read ANY of the replies so far but as lasagna is one of my favourite dishes ever to make and eat I was compelled to post straight away.

Italians often have it or a twist on it (baked ziti for example) as a celebration dish so I take that as a if to do it less often but do it properly.

Make both the ragu and bechamel from scratch and do it when you have the time to enjoy the process. Bechamel is actually easy although a labour of love. I could never go back to a jar again, seems blasphemous almost

I often make the ragu one day and keep in the fridge for a day or two. Then I'll make the bechamel and layer it with the cold meat sauce and hot bechamel as I find it's easier to handle before it's cooled. I made one over new year and put cooked and sliced pigs in blankets in the layers, was yum.

Then a shit tonne of several cheeses on top and bake.

Second bake and eat the next day.

Lasagna is a huge crowd pleaser in this house

Haven't rtft but butter your dish and then line with FRESH lasagne sheets. Then sauce, more fresh lasagne and bechamel and so on

Follow the Delia Smith Lasagne Al Forno recipe to the letter. Job done.

https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/international/european/italian-recipes/lasagne-al-forno

I really really want to eat lasagna now

I'm keeping this thread as my lasagne is always way too runny. From what I've read, I don't think I'm cooking the ragu for long enough, and I don't let it stand after cooking.

Awh some fab replies on here!!! Thank you, I'd like to think I'm a semi decent cook so it was pissing me off I couldn't nail it! I'll report back after the weekend :D

My recommendation is Schwartz Lasagna Mix . It contains all the lasagna flavour and thickens at the same time

You probably need more pasta layers and not put that much sauce between each layer of pasta sheets. When I first came to live in Italy I'd make lasagne with just 3-4 layers. Now I do at least double that. And it's a definite slice of lasagne at the end, not a spoonful.

Very thin layers. Make your lasagne in the morning and leave it to rest (in the fridge!) for the day! That's probably why your sheets are undercooked, they really need to sit. Learn how to make a proper white cheese sauce, never from a jar. Your bolognese should be a little more watery than is ideal for a proper bolognaise you'd have with spaghetti (also helps the sheets cook).