Lasagnas are a type of dish that everyone likes and everyone makes according to their own/family recipe. There are people who like vegetable ones, with tuna or with chicken. I make many different variations, depending for whom and which occasion I cook. But this is the recipe I’ve been asked for the most, classic minced meat/cheese lasagnas: Garfield’s favorite.
Ingredients for 4 normal or 2 extra hungry people:
- 0,5 kg minced pork shoulder
- 0,5 l passata
- 1 onion
- salt, pepper
- 1 tblspoon of butter
- 1 tblspoon of flour
- 0,6 l milk
- 1 egg
- nutmeg
- 1 tspoon of mustard
- 30 dkg of melty cheese such as gauda or cheddar
- 1 – 2 mozzarella
- a handful of granna padana, parmigano etc.
- fresh lasagna sheets
Preparation:
- Dice up the onion and saute it on a little bit of oil until it becomes transparent. Add the seasoned meat and saute until it gets color. Stir often and add water if necessary. When the meat is done add the tomato sauce/passata, stir well, season to taste, turn the heat low and cover with a lid askew and let it cook for about 20 minutes.
- While the meat is cooking, make your bechamel sauce. Heat up one tablespoon of butter and add one tablespoon of flour. Mix well and fry for couple of minutes on a low heat so it doesn’t burn.
- Then gradually add milk and whisk with a whisker so you don’t get flour chunks. Turn the heat up to medium, add salt and pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of ground nutmeg and mustard. Cook for about 5 – 7 minutes until it becomes thick. Then grate in 10 dkg of gaude/vheddar until it melts. Turn the heat off and add an egg and stir it in.
- Put half of ladle of meat sauce and half of ladle of bechamel sauce in a tray and spread around. Put the first layer of lasagna sheets to cover the bottom. Pour over them half of the meat and 1/3 of bechamel sauce and smudge it around with the bottom of the ladle.
- Repeat the procedure once more. In the end put one more layer of lasagna sheets and cover with the rest of bechamel sauce. Grate over the rest of gauda/cheddar, add a handful of granna padana/parmigiana and pieces of maozzarella.
- Put in the middle of the oven for about 20 minutes on 200 Celsius degrees. Then heat it up to 220 Celsius degrees and grill option and put the tray closer to the upper heater. Bake for another 7 minutes until the cheese gets golden tones.
- Serve with a bowl of lettuce.
Couple of tricks I use:
- Fry the butter and flour for bechamel sauce on a low heat so it doesn’t burn.
- When the bechamel sauce is done, remove from heat and THEN add the egg so it doesn’t boil.
- Use the fresh lasagna sheets because after baking they melt in your mouth.
- You grate the cheese over the last layer of lasagna sheets mixed with bechamel so it gets slightly crunchy.
- You bake it regularly with a twist of grilling it in the end to get that extra cheese crunch.
Enjoy,
T 🙂
