My Favourite and Tasty Beef Lasagna / Lasagne Recipe
Over the years I have tried various lasagne recipes as it has always been one of my favourite meals. By adapting these recipes I think I have now come up with the perfect lasagne, but why not give it a try for yourselves and let me know what you think!
Ingredients
Dried Lasagne Sheets
For the Meat Sauce
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Approx 450g of steak mince
A large onion
2 to 3 cloves of fresh garlic
2- 3 average sized carrots
Approx 6 tablespoons of milk
Approx a tablespoon of Worcestershire Sauce (optional)
8 medium sized fresh mushrooms peeled and de-stalked
1 tsp of mixed herbs
Approx 25 fresh cherry tomatoes or a can of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato puree
A beef stock cube
Approx 1/4 of a litre of water
For the Bechamel Sauce
Salt and Pepper
Approx half a litre of milk
A tsp of dried nutmeg
A tablespoon of butter
Approx 4 tablespoons of plain/all purpose flour
Approx 100g of Cheddar, Red Leicester or similar cheese
To Top
Either a further 100g of grated cheddar cheese, or alternatively the equivalent in sliced mozzarella cheese
Method
Rich Meat Sauce
Dice up your onion, peeled carrots, and garlic. Heat oil in a frying pan with a lid and add vegetables. Once sizzling, turn down the heat to low, and stir for about 10 minutes until slightly softened.
Transfer vegetables to a separate dish. Now add your steak mince to the pan and raise the heat to brown the mince, whilst stirring constantly. Once browned, drain the mince through a sieve to get rid of the greasy liquid.
Return mince to the pan along with the previously simmered vegetables.
Add your mushrooms.
Add either the can of chopped tomatoes, or your cherry tomatoes (once you have chopped them) to the pan.
Add mixed herbs, milk, Worcestershire sauce, stock cube, salt, pepper, puree and water to the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce heat to very low and place lid on top of the pan.
Leave to simmer for several hours, checking and stirring occasionally.
After several hours remove lid and allow the liquid to reduce (stirring regularly) until you have a thick meat sauce.
For the Bechamel Sauce
Gently melt your butter in a pan.
Add the flour and mix together using a hand held whisk or a wooden spoon.
Blend in the milk.
Add your nutmeg, salt and pepper.
Gently bring to the boil stirring all the time.
Reduce the heat and add your cheese, stirring until it has melted into the sauce.
To Prepare Your Lasagne
Spoon half of the rich meat sauce into the bottom of your lasagne dish.
Layer sheets of the dried pasta on top.
Pour over approx half the bechamel sauce.
On top of this spoon the rest of the rich meat sauce.
Finish with a further layer of dried pasta sheets.
Pour over the remaining bechamel sauce.
Put either the grated cheese, or the mozzarella cheese over the top of the sauce.
Place the dish in a baking tray, and bake in an oven at about 180 degrees for around 45 minutes, or until the top of the lasagne is semi-golden.
Delicious!