Lasagna

We had friends over for lunch the other Sunday – the ones we went to Africa with. It turned out to be an unusually warm day so we sat in the sun on the back deck eating – lasagna. Had I known it was going to be so warm, we could have barbequed, but such is Melbourne’s weather.

Here’s my usually vague recipe. I make it in a roasting pan so it feed the 10 of us easily and lasted a bit for the week. If there’s too much meat sauce, just pop it in the fridge and use with pasta for another meal. And it freezes well too.

Meat sauce:

I bought 2 trays of prime 5-star mince, 1 tray of pork mince and one of cheap 3 star mince. (There is method in this madness – the pork makes it all a bit softer and the cheap-shot makes it juicy).

Brown a couple of onions, some shallots and a heap of crushed garlic. Put into a big pot with a heavy base. Brown meat in small batches – so it fries and doesn’t stew. If the meat's releasing a lot of water, there’s too much meat, the pan has cooled and it’s now stewing!!! Toss in the big pot. Add a couple of cans of organic canned tomatoes, some organic tomato sugo (sauce), some mixed herbs, some extra oregano, a couple of bay leaves, a heap of cracked black pepper (it sweetens with cooking) and about half a bottle of red wine of a drinking quality. Add a bit of water if needed to ensure meat is covered. Bring to a simmer and leave on the stove simmering over a low heat for hours. Stir occasionally. Add more water - or wine - if you haven't drunk it yet! - as needed. It should end up quite thick though.

White sauce:

The trick here is to use self-raising flour. Just makes the sauce lighter. Melt some butter, add the same quantity of flour (ie same amount of butter and flour), cook over the heat until the butter melts and combines with the flour. Cook for another couple of minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in cold milk. There shouldn’t be any lumps. Stir with a wooden spoon over the heat until it comes to the boil. Allow to simmer – keep stirring! – for a couple of minutes.  It ensures the flour is all cooked and you don’t get that ‘raw flour’ taste. You can add more milk if it's too thick. You can also slug in cream or whisk in an egg - if you like it really rich. Egg also gives it a bit more 'lift'. Add some sea salt, heaps of grated nutmeg and pepper if you like. You can add cheese too – grated – any will do. (Don’t boil it again after adding cheese. It doesn’t like that.)

Layer up with instant pasta sheets. Yes, I reckon they’re just fine! You can sprinkle some grated cheese in between too if your cholesterol is under control. Otherwise, save it for the top layer!

Shove it in the oven and cook until cooked (check the pasta packet…)

Enjoy!!

PS Penny the proof reader is still away….sorry.