Most sane people love a good lasagne and if you are most people then I have to say just one thing, this recipe will have you singing my praises – yes, I know, that’s quite forward of me but I do think that’ll be the case. This version is adored by everyone I serve it to, I mean, it serves a crowd (#mealprep), it’s hearty, pretty simple to make, flavorsome and it will have guests singing YOUR praises (wink wink).
Please remember to take note of the recipe notes below, it’ll help you with some questions you might have regarding the recipe. And no, and I’m not that food blogger type that loves bombarding you with an essay before revealing you my recipe, just the notes, that’s all I’m offering, and of course a banger recipe!
I like making quite a bit of lasagne because it helps with a day or two worth of food and I can then also freeze a few portions for those slower days. The recipe window does allow you to adjust the serving size to toggle that as high or as low as you’d like.
This makes for the most perfect meal prep, even though this does not last in my household – I’d have to make double the amount if meal prep was a thing. Of course, that’s a great problem to have because this really is THAT good!
The Big Tasty Lasagne
Ingredients
Tomato Beef Sauce
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large white onion diced
- 1 large red bell pepper diced
- 1 tbsp brown sugar or 1 large grated carrot
- 450 grams beef mince see notes
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground fennel
- ½ tsp ground white pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 medium chili
- 100 grams tomato paste
- 410 grams canned pureed tomato
- 820 grams canned diced tomatoes
- 200 ml water
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- Handful fresh basil roughly diced
Garlic White Sauce
- 4 tbsp ghee or olive oil
- 6-8 garlic cloves finely diced
- ½ cup flour
- 1 litre milk warmed
- 1 tsp salt
- 150 grams parmesan grated
- 600 grams mozzarella grated
Extra
- 14 Lasagne sheets raw
Instructions
- Start by bringing all the needed ingredients together and preparing any items that need to be chopped. I prefer keeping the cheese in the fridge as it’s easier to grate when it’s cold.
- Add olive oil, diced onion and diced bell pepper to a large saucepan and sauté on a medium high heat for about 3-5minutes or until lightly charred. This develops great flavour.
- Add the minced meat to the sauteed onion and bell pepper. Using a spatula break the meat apart and sauté for 5mins or until the mince starts browning.
- Add the ground paprika, fennel and white pepper as well as the chopped chili. Stir until combined.
- Add in the tomato paste, puree, diced tomatoes, additional water, red wine and sugar. Stir until well combined. Cover and simmer on a medium heat for 20-30mins. Stirring occasionally.
- Meanwhile, let’s preheat the oven and make the white sauce. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/356 degrees Fahrenheit. Add 4 tbsp ghee and chopped garlic to a medium saucepan. Sauté the garlic on a medium high heat for 2minutes or until it’s a light golden brown in colour – keeping an eye on the garlic is crucial as you don’t want the garlic to burn and become bitter, this will ruin the sauce. Immediately add in the flour and stir. Cook the flour for about 1-2minutes to remove that floury taste and have your lukewarm milk ready – to warm up the milk, I just pop it into a jug and microwave it for a few minutes. Once the flour has cooked for 1minute or so, gradually pour in the milk, mixing vigorously, especially when it’s similar to a dough, this will remove all the lumps. Once all the milk has been added, finish off with a pinch of white pepper and salt to taste. Remove from the heat and set aside.
- By now the red sauce should be done, so remove it from the heat and grate the cheese.
- To assemble: Start by placing a thin layer of red sauce on the base of the dish, then add about 4 sheets on top of the sauce. Add a 1/4 of red sauce on top of the pasta, followed by a 1/4 of white sauce. Then sprinkle 1/4 of the parmesan and a 1/4 of the mozzarella. Repeat three more times (with the same ratios as the previous layer) with the last layer being pasta, red sauce, white sauce, parmesan and mozzarella, equaling 4 layers.
Video
Notes
- Protein: You can use only beef (like myself) in this recipe or you could use 1/2 beef mince and 1/2 Italian sausage. You could also use 1/3 beef, 1/3 veal and 1/3 pork. I’ve also used chicken mince as well. If you’re vegan/vegetarian then you could use any meat-free mince you like. So pretty much whatever combination you’d like, it’s all up to you.
- Chili: I always have jarred chopped chilies with olive oil in my fridge but you can use whatever chili you’d like and however much you want. That all depends on your personal preference.
- Red Wine: Feel free to replace the red wine with red or white wine vinegar.
- Sugar: You could replace the 1 tbsp of sugar with a large grated carrot. This is a great substitute – I use either or depending on my mood.
- Ghee: For the white sauce, you can use ghee but if you don’t have then feel free to use regular butter or olive oil. Ghee is a type of South Asian clarified butter and can be used as a substitute for a variety of fats and oils across cuisines. It also has a distinctive flavor characterized by its rich, nutty, and slightly caramelized notes.
- Ovenproof Dish Size: I generally use a dish that’s 32cmL/26cmW/7cmH
- Assembling the Lasagne: besides the initial dollop of red sauce you add to the base of the lasagne dish, you need to mentally divide the red sauce, white sauce and cheeses in 1/4’s – this will ensure you have enough of each whilst layering.
- Serving Size: You can half the recipe if you’re cooking for a smaller crowd, even though I don’t think it’s a bad thing have leftovers, especially when it’s lasagne.
- Timing: You could make the red and white sauce in advance, just reheat before assembling.
- Freezing: Once baked you can happily freeze the lasagne for up to 3 months.