Classic lasagne with three cheeses
Oh boy - this lasagne! It has so much flavour and richness, full of garlic and rosemary, and the cheese sauce and the cheesy topping are only for the brave. I'm in love and it's now a regular meal in our house which may not be good for our waistlines.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- olive oil for cooking
- 1 tsp red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 1 large clove of garlic
- 1 sprig of rosemary finely chopped to amount to 1 full tsp
- 1 tomato
- 500 g ground beef mince
- 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 400 ml beef stock from a cube
- ½ tsp Marmite (optional!)
- A chunk of parmesan rind
- 8 lasagne sheets (depending on the size of your dish) dried, from a packet
- 1 ball of fresh mozzarella
- Cheese to sprinkle
For the cheese bechamel sauce
- 50 g butter
- 50 g flour
- 500 ml milk
- 1 tsp mild mustard or ½ tsp of spicy mustard
- A pinch of paprika
- 60 g grated white cheese Emmental, Cheddar etc
- 20 g parmesan
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion and heat some olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add the onion and sauté gently for 5 minutes until softened. Add the vinegar and cook for a couple more minutes.
- Chop the tomato into small pieces and crush the garlic. Finely chop the rosemary leaves. Add the garlic and rosemary, along with some salt to the onions and cook for a minute, before tipping in the tomato pieces. Stir to combine all the flavours and cook gently, lowering the heat to prevent the garlic from burning.
- Once the tomato is softened, add the beef mince. Season generously with salt and pepper, then break it up with your wooden spoon or spatula. The beef will give off a lot of water (depending on its quality!) so turn the heat up high to brown it all and to cook off the excess liquid.
- Dissolve the beef stock cube in 400ml hot water and add the ½ tsp Marmite (if you want to!). Stir to dissolve in the hot water.
- Once the beef is brown all over and combined with all the other ingredients in the pan, pour in the tinned tomatoes. Pour some of the stock into the empty tomato can to clean it. Empty it into the pan of ragu, then add a little more stock to the pan. It will appear quite full and a bit like beef soup, but that's ok, keep the heat on medium/medium-low and the liquid will gradually simmer and reduce.
- Season with salt and pepper, and add the chunk of parmesan rind. Leave to simmer uncovered while you make the cheese sauce.
- Now, it's time for the bechamel. Put the flour and butter in a saucepan and set over medium heat. Once the butter has melted stir it into the flour to create a thick roux. Cook it for a minute then remove from the heat.
- Pour in a splash of milk. It will sizzle but stir it into the roux and repeat slowly and gently, using a whisk to beat so each addition is smooth and creamy, until all the milk is incorporated. Return the saucepan to the heat and bring to the boil. Bubbles should appear on the surface and continue to stir to stop it from catching on the bottom of the pan.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes as it thickens then season with salt and pepper. Add the mustard and paprika and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese and grated parmesan. It will immediately thicken further and become stringy but that's because there's a tonne of cheese in there! If it's too thick, add a splash more milk.
- Meanwhile, the beef sauce will have thickened so add the remaining stock, stir and leave to bubble and reduce. Once tender and moist and everything in the pan is combined, taste and season with salt and pepper if necessary. Turn off the heat and remove those pieces of parmesan rind.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F. In a baking dish, ladle out a big spoonful of beef and smooth it down. It should be quite a thin layer. Top with lasagne sheets, then a big scoop of bechamel. Smooth it over the pasta then top with a few torn pieces of mozzarella and a grating of one of your cheeses.
- Repeat this until you have four layers. You should have finished the mozzarella before you reach the top layer. Don't save any for the top as it won't create the same stringy texture once it's been grilled for a long time.
- Smooth the bechamel over the top and sprinkle with a little cheese. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Check on the lasagne and if it's bubbling and the topping is looking blistered and gold, turn on the grill to char the surface. Grill for 5 to 10 minutes and keep your eye on it.
- Remove from the oven, slice into big pieces and serve with salad and garlic bread.