Cooking Adventures: Lasagne

I've just finished portioning the leftovers of a big batch of lasagne, and because this batch turned out really well, I thought it best to write down what quantities I used so I remember for next time.

This makes a very big batch, would easily feed 8-10 I'd say.

I usually share it freshly baked with my parents and then have around 8 portions left for the freezer, but I make those smaller on purpose so I'm not tempted to overeat. ;-) Which is very easy with this...



This recipe was adapted from this one originally published in Rachel Allen's "Rachel's Food for Living".

I usually prepare the lasagne the day before I want to eat it, mostly because the bolognese sauce takes quite a a while to prepare and cook, but you could cook it straight after assembling, or prepare it earlier on the day of serving.

Ingredients:

• 3x 400g tin chopped tomatoes (I use organic ones as I've found them to be the best taste-wise)
• 4 medium yellow onions, chopped as fine as you can
  
• 1 large red onion, chopped finely
  
• 1 garlic clove, grated or finely chopped
• 150ml wine (ideally red wine, but rose works too, white only if it is semi-dry)
• 150ml water
• 2-3 tsp sugar
• pinch of salt
• ground pepper
• olive oil
  
• fresh or frozen herbs (basil, oregano, thyme, and/or a herbes de provence mix)
• 500g ground meat, optional (if I use meat, then it's usual half beef and half pork)

• 50g butter, unsalted
• 50g plain flour
• 600ml whole milk
• salt, pepper
• ground nutmeg
  

• enough lasagne sheets (I usually have some fresh ones in the freezer from making pasta and getting fed up with shaping the dough after rolling it, but it works just as well with dried) for a big baking dish (mine is about 25x33cm, and a good 7-8cm deep)
• parmesan cheese
• mozzarella or other good melting cheese to top the lasagne
  

First, heat some olive oil in a large frying pan or pot with a fitting lid. If I'm using minced meat then I usually fry it first until browned and cooked through, then set aside while I make the sauce.

If using no meat, or after you have browned the meat, gently cook the yellow onions over a low heat until they start to go translucent. Then add the red onion and continue to cook over a low heat with the lid on until completely soft, stirring occasionally to stop the onions on the bottom from burning. This stage can take anywhere from 10 to 25 minutes, depending on how finely you chopped the onions, and how full the pan is.

Add the grated garlic, and cook over a medium to high heat until the onions start to turn golden, adding a bit more oil if necessary.

Once the onions are coloured to your liking, pour in the wine and water and stir for a moment, dissolving any bits on the bottom of the pan in the liquid.

Let come to a simmer and add the tomatoes, then bring to a simmer again. Season with the sugar, salt and pepper, tasting and adjusting the seasoning if necessary. If your tomatoes are a bit weak on taste, add some tomato puree or paste to liven them up. Simmer until the sauce thickens a bit.

I usually puree the sauce at this stage with a handheld blender, as I've found it makes it easier to layer the lasagne evenly.

Add the fresh herbs and taste again, adjusting to taste, then drop in the browned meat, stir and set aside while you make the white sauce.

For the white sauce, melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute or two. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly and bring to a gentle boil.

Cook the sauce until it starts to thicken, then add salt, peper and some ground nutmeg to taste.

To assemble the lasagne, spoon some of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the dish, then place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Add more tomato sauce, then a layer of white sauce and a sprinkling of grated parmesan cheese. Follow with another layer of lasagne, tomato sauce, white sauce and parmsan until you've used up all the sauces or reached the top of your dish.

If baking directly, you need to top with the mozzarella or other cheese now and pop it in the preheated oven at 180°C and bake for 30 minutes until bubbling and golden.

Since I usually prepare this a day ahead, I simply store the assembled lasagne without the topping cheese in the cold oven. The next day, I turn on the oven (180°C same as for baking directly), top the lasagne with the topping cheese and bake it for 40-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden and smelling seductively.

I've found that by leaving the lasagne to sit assembled for a day, the pasta sheets end up perfectly cooked without going mushy, so this works especially well for dried pasta, but it doesn't do any harm to fresh pasta either, which has time to soak up some of the flavours and salt from sauces overnight.

This freezes very well cut into portions for one person, and I usually defrost them for 10 minutes in the microwave (cutting the portion in half and turning the middle to the outside after 5 minutes for even cooking), then top with some extra cheese and give it another minute or two to melt the cheese and make sure the lasagne is piping hot all the way through.