Mr Piggy (MP) really enjoys a good lasagne. You can always go the quick and easy way by buying pre-made sauce, pasta sheets, even pre-made lasagne, but I think if you have the time then fresh homemade lasagne is worth the effort.
Total time required: ~ 2hrs
- 10mins dough time (with a magimix, probably 20mins by hand)
- 30mins sauce time
- 30mins assembly
- 30-40mins baking
I would normally make the dough (slightly dry) first then, while it's sitting, make the sauce. I like to start with a basic tomato sauce (or you can use a couple of cans of tomatoes) then add lots of meat to it. The Flower Lady (my Italian friend) recommends using three different types of meat to get a really good flavour. I find that leftover roast and bbq meats work really well, but if you don't have any handy, then any meat will do (try to get at least one meat on the bone for added flavour)! Add the meat to the tomato sauce and simmer for at least 20mins; season to taste. Finally, remove the meat and chop finely. Blend the sauce (if you haven't already) before adding back the meat. The sauce is now ready for use!
Tip: keep the sauce on the slightly watery side so that the pasta has something to cook in while baking.
By the time the sauce is done, the dough should be ready for rolling. The last time I made lasagne, I rolled the sheets as I needed them and I found that worked pretty well. This way you won't have any danger of the sheets sticking to the table or each other! On my pasta machine I go to #7, but basically the thinner the sheet, the more layers (and MP likes his layers)!
So the layering process involves alternating sauce, pasta sheets and cheese (I mix fresh mozzarella, parmesan and cheddar). You could also chuck in other things like mushrooms, chorizo, hard boiled egg and whatever else you like to make it interesting. The first layer on the dish should always be a sauce layer, as saucy as can be, to make sure your first sheet doesn't get stuck to the baking dish. Then continue with layers of dough, sauce, cheese (I sometimes don't cheese every layer so it's not too cheesy). Put extra cheese on top of the last layer before baking in a pre-heated oven of 180deg C. If you like white sauce, chuck a layer of white sauce on top of the last cheese layer before baking.
That’s it, eat up!
Posts
Comments (3)
I would have used a plain white dish to take this picture. But otherwise, YUMMY!!
yeah... this whole food photography thing is much harder than it looks! it's plain white dishes from now on out!
looks soooooooo delicious! i am so going to try all your recipes when i get back! (its also keeping me entertained in a class about flowmeters as it is 6.30pm and my head is about to explode)
Selina