Kate's lovely lasagne

lostkat · 19-10-2008, 16:07

I made lasagne last night and decided to take a few pics to post up for those of you who only know the Dolmio way when it comes to lasagne. Trust me, this version is easy peasy to make and doesn't take too long. It also blows all that ready-made sauce crap out of the water. All the non-fresh ingredients are things that I always have readily available in the cupboard, so you shouldn't need to go out and buy anything special. If you're not keen on mushrooms, just add some extra mince or a pepper/courgette or something

Serves 4 people or 2 greedy pigs and is low fat if you follow the N.B. bit after the bechamel sauce... oh and use low fat cheese (booooo!).

Ingredients

For the Bolognaise Sauce

120g good quality beef mince
1 onion, chopped
180g mushrooms, chopped (for the benefit of BBx, I neither washed or peeled these )
1 can chopped tomatoes
couple of cloves of garlic
pinch of mixed herbs (I use herbs de province)
2 tsp tomato puree
4 tbsp red wine

For the Bechamel Sauce

4 tsp plain flour (not SR as in my pic. I’d ran out of plain, so I was going to use SR, until I found some bread flour and used that instead)
4 tsp butter or margarine
360ml milk
4 tsp parmesan, finely grated

N.B. If you're wanting to make a low fat version (which I normally do), halve the bechamel sauce quantity and use low fat yoghurt for the top of the lasagne instead of bechamel sauce. Use the bechamel sauce between the layers though.

Other Ingredients

6 sheets of lasagne

lots of grated cheese

Instructions

For the Bolognaise Sauce

1. Heat a large pan and fry off the mince quickly until browned on the outside. Don't take long over doing this because the longer you fry it, the drier it will become.

2. Turn down the heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until softened, then add the mushrooms and cook for a couple more minutes

3. Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and mixed herbs, then bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes.

4. Pour in the wine and simmer for another 5 minutes, by which time you should have a delicious smelling sauce.

For the Bechamel Sauce

1. Melt the butter/marg in a small saucepan over a gentle heat

2. Add the flour and whisk in quickly. Leave to bubble for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly.

3. Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the milk a little at a time. By doing this, you avoid getting lumps in your sauce. Make sure you mix each slosh of milk in thoroughly before adding the next slosh. Don't be impatient, it doesn't take long! You will end up with quite a thin-looking mixture.

4. Return the pan to a gentle heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. I usually add some grated nutmeg at this point, but it's not needed if you don't have any.

When it boils, you will see little bubbles rising to the surface around the edge and the sauce will have thickened up substantially. It should coat a spoon like in the picture below.

5. Remove the pan immediately from the heat and whisk in the parmesan straight away.

Voila! bechamel sauce

Now comes the assembly bit

1. Spoon 1/3 of the bolognaise sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Cover with 2 sheets of lasagne, then add a couple of spoons of the bechamel sauce on top and spread around. Don't go mad, or you won't have enough for the top.

2. Repeat with two more layers of bolognaise, lasagne sheets and bechamel sauce.

3. After the final layer of lasagne sheets, tip the remainder of the bechamel sauce over the top of the lasagne and sprinkle liberally with cheese. I like good, strong white cheddar on mine, with a little parmesan on top.

4. Bung on the middle shelf of the oven at Gas Mark 4 for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly. (If your oven doesn't brown things very well, you can always grill it for 5 mins to finish the top off.)

5. Remove from oven, leave to rest for 5 mins (if you can bear it... just to let it cool down a bit) spoon onto plates and scoff. I usually do mine with salad, but felt like garlic bread today

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM *fat*

Piggymon · 19-10-2008, 16:09

Looks lovely !

I never wash or peel mushrooms either

lostkat · 19-10-2008, 16:09

shhh, don't tell BBx or she'll freak

leowyatt · 19-10-2008, 16:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostkat

shhh, don't tell BBx or she'll freak

she isn't eating it tho

Looks very nice Kate

Will · 19-10-2008, 16:14

I don't wash 'em either :shock:

Looks great, in fact it looks pretty much identical to the way I make it!

But full fat all the way for me

So butter in the bechamel with a touch of cream, and full fat cheese!

lostkat · 19-10-2008, 16:15

Oh I used full fat cheese too. I can't bring myself to eat that low fat, rubbery crap, no matter how much less bad stuff it has in it.

leowyatt · 19-10-2008, 16:17

Good girl, tried low fat cheese once it was the most embarrassing excuse for cheese I have ever seen and tasted! It was vile!

lostkat · 19-10-2008, 16:18

Agreed. OK so it's half the fat, but it's also half the taste.

Muban · 19-10-2008, 16:37

Looks fab! I don't wash mushrooms either, they don't normally need it anyway. If they are particularly dirty I just wipe them with a lightly moistened bit of kitchen paper (not so it's wet, just so it has enough dampness for the dirt to stick to). I didn't know anyone peeled mushrooms!

BBx · 19-10-2008, 19:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by lostkat

shhh, don't tell BBx or she'll freak

I washed the mushrooms we had tonight dagnabit!!!

And will continue to... cos I can see the dirt innit

Nice lasagne!

I make mine all from scratch too

roud: with bacon too!

Was going to have it tonight but had zero sleep so went for an easy option instead.. nom nom nom!!!

BB x

19-10-2008, 16:07	#1
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	Kate's lovely lasagne I made lasagne last night and decided to take a few pics to post up for those of you who only know the Dolmio way when it comes to lasagne. Trust me, this version is easy peasy to make and doesn't take too long. It also blows all that ready-made sauce crap out of the water. All the non-fresh ingredients are things that I always have readily available in the cupboard, so you shouldn't need to go out and buy anything special. If you're not keen on mushrooms, just add some extra mince or a pepper/courgette or something Serves 4 people or 2 greedy pigs and is low fat if you follow the N.B. bit after the bechamel sauce... oh and use low fat cheese (booooo!). Ingredients For the Bolognaise Sauce 120g good quality beef mince 1 onion, chopped 180g mushrooms, chopped (for the benefit of BBx, I neither washed or peeled these ) 1 can chopped tomatoes couple of cloves of garlic pinch of mixed herbs (I use herbs de province) 2 tsp tomato puree 4 tbsp red wine For the Bechamel Sauce 4 tsp plain flour (not SR as in my pic. I’d ran out of plain, so I was going to use SR, until I found some bread flour and used that instead) 4 tsp butter or margarine 360ml milk 4 tsp parmesan, finely grated N.B. If you're wanting to make a low fat version (which I normally do), halve the bechamel sauce quantity and use low fat yoghurt for the top of the lasagne instead of bechamel sauce. Use the bechamel sauce between the layers though. Other Ingredients 6 sheets of lasagne lots of grated cheese Instructions For the Bolognaise Sauce 1. Heat a large pan and fry off the mince quickly until browned on the outside. Don't take long over doing this because the longer you fry it, the drier it will become. 2. Turn down the heat and add the onions and garlic. Cook for a few minutes until softened, then add the mushrooms and cook for a couple more minutes 3. Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes and mixed herbs, then bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 minutes. 4. Pour in the wine and simmer for another 5 minutes, by which time you should have a delicious smelling sauce. For the Bechamel Sauce 1. Melt the butter/marg in a small saucepan over a gentle heat 2. Add the flour and whisk in quickly. Leave to bubble for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly. 3. Take the saucepan off the heat and whisk in the milk a little at a time. By doing this, you avoid getting lumps in your sauce. Make sure you mix each slosh of milk in thoroughly before adding the next slosh. Don't be impatient, it doesn't take long! You will end up with quite a thin-looking mixture. 4. Return the pan to a gentle heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly. I usually add some grated nutmeg at this point, but it's not needed if you don't have any. When it boils, you will see little bubbles rising to the surface around the edge and the sauce will have thickened up substantially. It should coat a spoon like in the picture below. 5. Remove the pan immediately from the heat and whisk in the parmesan straight away. Voila! bechamel sauce Now comes the assembly bit 1. Spoon 1/3 of the bolognaise sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Cover with 2 sheets of lasagne, then add a couple of spoons of the bechamel sauce on top and spread around. Don't go mad, or you won't have enough for the top. 2. Repeat with two more layers of bolognaise, lasagne sheets and bechamel sauce. 3. After the final layer of lasagne sheets, tip the remainder of the bechamel sauce over the top of the lasagne and sprinkle liberally with cheese. I like good, strong white cheddar on mine, with a little parmesan on top. 4. Bung on the middle shelf of the oven at Gas Mark 4 for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden and bubbly. (If your oven doesn't brown things very well, you can always grill it for 5 mins to finish the top off.) 5. Remove from oven, leave to rest for 5 mins (if you can bear it... just to let it cool down a bit) spoon onto plates and scoff. I usually do mine with salad, but felt like garlic bread today NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM fat __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

19-10-2008, 16:09	#2
Piggymon Lara Croft Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: PigmoPad - Braintree Essex Posts: 8,604	Looks lovely ! I never wash or peel mushrooms either __________________ BF% 28/08/08 - 21%

19-10-2008, 16:09	#3
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	shhh, don't tell BBx or she'll freak __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

19-10-2008, 16:14	#5
Will BBx woz 'ere :P Join Date: Jan 1970 Posts: 2,147,487,208	I don't wash 'em either :shock: Looks great, in fact it looks pretty much identical to the way I make it! But full fat all the way for me So butter in the bechamel with a touch of cream, and full fat cheese! __________________ *No No!*

19-10-2008, 16:15	#6
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	Oh I used full fat cheese too. I can't bring myself to eat that low fat, rubbery crap, no matter how much less bad stuff it has in it. __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

19-10-2008, 16:17	#7
leowyatt Chef extraordinaire Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Infinite Loop Posts: 11,143	Good girl, tried low fat cheese once it was the most embarrassing excuse for cheese I have ever seen and tasted! It was vile! __________________ "Dr Sheldon Cooper FTW!"

19-10-2008, 16:18	#8
lostkat Good Cat Join Date: Jun 2006 Posts: 5,550	Agreed. OK so it's half the fat, but it's also half the taste. __________________ Oooooh Cecil, what have you done?

19-10-2008, 16:37	#9
Muban Shoes, Boobs & Corsets Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: The fastest town in Scotland Posts: 1,882	Looks fab! I don't wash mushrooms either, they don't normally need it anyway. If they are particularly dirty I just wipe them with a lightly moistened bit of kitchen paper (not so it's wet, just so it has enough dampness for the dirt to stick to). I didn't know anyone peeled mushrooms!