Lasagne

Bolognese Sauce

• 250 g lean steak mince
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium sized onion chopped
• 1 carrot
• 1 stick of celery
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 250 mls beef stock
• A few sprigs of thyme
• A bay leaf
• Olive oil (although I sometimes use sunflower oil and sometimes marg)
• 120 ml Red wine (optional - in my case depending on whether I have some in the house)
• Salt and Pepper
• Plus any other veg that's needing used up

Method:

• Fry the onions in oil until soft
• Add the mince, fry until it has browned
• Add the tomato puree, give it a good mix
• Add the tinned tomatoes and stock and mix
• Add the rest of the vegetables, herbs and seasoning
• Bring to the boil, then cover it and put it on the lowest heat to simmer for as long as possible! Probably at least an hour. I often let it thicken up with the lid off towards the end of cooking. But that's a judgement call.

I make a cheese sauce for my lasagne. This sauce is great for macaroni cheese.

Cheese Sauce

• A knob of margarine (about 30/40g)
• 2 heaped tsp plain flour
• 70-100 g of your favourite cheddar grated - we like Red Leicester
• About 120-150 ml milk

Method

• Melt the marg in a small pot
• Add the flour and mix until it all comes together
• Add a small dash of milk and mix it until all the liquid has been absorbed. Repeat this until you have a runny liquid, probably double cream consistency.
• Add the cheese and heat it up until the cheese has all melted and the mixture has thickened.

Next up is constructing your lasagne. I use a small casserole dish. You will need lasagne pasta obviously. But also I sometimes add a layer of pepperoni or chorizo if I have some in the fridge. It spices it up a little.

• Put a layer of mince, then lasagne, then cheese sauce, mince, pepperoni/chorizo, lasagne, cheese sauce etc until the mixture is all used up. With the cheese sauce on top.
• Cook it in the oven at about 160 (fan) for 40-45 minutes.

I usually serve it up with dough balls. But crusty bread is also good.