Lasagna

Isn't lasagna just the best meal you could possibly have? It is by far one of my favorites and surely one of the most fun dishes to prepare. My mother taught me this dish when I was very young - I used to love helping her out assembling the lasagna. It may look like a complicated thing to make but once you actually break it down it is very simple. I guess it is just time consuming, but if you have a dinner with friends and are looking to impress them, then follow this recipe and make one of the most amazing lasagna's they will have ever tasted!

Ingredients (for 10 people)

For the tomato sauce:

1. 4 tins of chopped tomatoes;
2. Basil;
3. Tomato purée;
4. 1 large onion.

For the béchamel:

1. 200 g of butter;
2. 70 g of flour;
3. 1. 25 litres of milk.

For the meat:

1. 1 kg of minced meat;
2. olive oil;
3. ¾ of an onion.

Extras:

1. 1 large mozzarella;
2. Parmesan;
3. Basil leaves.

Method

Tomato sauce:

1. To make the tomato sauce (Which will take about two hours so make sure you leave plenty of time to make this), you slice an onion and put it in a saucepan with some olive oil. Put this at a high heat until the onion starts to brown.
2. Once the onion is browned, add the tins of chopped tomatoes, another glug of olive oil and some basil, a pinch of salt and put the lid on the sauce pan. Cook this at a lowish temperature for about one hour and a half.

Béchamel:

1. Add the butter to the saucepan and let it melt at a low temperature ( we don’t want the butter to burn)
2. When the butter is fully melted, add in the flour and stir it around softly, getting rid of all lumps.
3. Slowly add the milk whilst stirring. This will be a long process so you must be very patient.
4. Make sure you always stir in the same direction as this will facilitate the thickening of the sauce.
5. The key to making good bechamel sauce is in the pace – the slower you are in making it the better and more flavoursome it will be.

Minced meat:

1. Chop the onion and put it in a frying pan with a glug of olive oil. Put the heat on high and brown the onion.
2. Add the minced meat and cook it on a medium to high heat without burning it.

Once you have all your ingredients set in front of you, it is time to actually construct the lasagne.

1. Put a very large pan filled with water on a high heat.
2. Preheat your oven to 180° Celsius.
3. When the water is boiling add a teaspoon of salt and a drip of oil to ensure the sheets don’t stick together. Then add the lasagna sheets.
4. After about 3 minutes take them out and lay them out on your dish. My large dish holds about 6 sheets. Make sure there are no gaps when placing them.
5. When you have your bottom layer you can start assembling. Add tomato sauce on the bottom followed by minced meat, béchamel, mozzarella (which you will have cut into squares), basil and sprinkle with Parmesan on the top.
6. Repeat this about 5 times or enough to cover your whole dish.
7. The top layer should just have some tomato sauce and you can add optional breadcrumbs (this just makes the top layer slightly crunchier).

8. Put the lasagna in the oven and cook for 40 minutes.

And enjoy!

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