Lasagna

Lasagna

 Italian. This cuisine is a popular choice in my family from tagliatelle to bolognese, its offers a variety of Mediterranean flavours and deliciousness. Lasagna is always made in my family with the leftover meat sauce from yesterdays spaghetti. Or as my brother calls it 'meat porridge' that makes bubbles. In my recipe, it contains layers of yummyness of oregano, basil, salty notes from the olives, sweet notes from the tomatoes and meaty notes. Trust me once you have eaten one bite, forget about your 'slimming diet'!!
The diverse flavours dance around your palate and coat your tongue in the most glorious sauce you have ever tasted in your life!!

This particular recipe was inspired by my brother, he loves Italian food and this dish leaves him full for 4 hours and satisfies his monster appetite!!! This recipe is different from the other lasagna recipes, due to the fact that I add secret goodies to make the flavours pop in your mouth.

Recipe

1. For the meat sauce, in a deep pan on a medium heat saute 4 cloves of finely diced garlic and 1 finely diced onion in 2 tbsp of olive oil. Sweat the onion and garlic until slightly brown.

2. Then add your mincemeat and break it up using your wooden spoon. Turn the heat up to high and cook until meat is dark brown. This takes 5-6 mins continuously stirring with a wooden spoon.

3. Then turn the heat down to low and add 4 medium fresh diced tomatoes, 1 diced carrot and 1 diced celery. Stir the meat mixture and add 1tsp of oregano, a sprinkle of pepper, 3-4 small mushrooms or 1 huge mushroom diced and 1/2 a chicken stock cube.

4. Allow the mixture to cook for 2-3 mins, then add 1 1/2 cans of chopped tomatoes and stir.

5. Reduce the sauce by half, this mean cook the sauce down to intensify the tomato flavour. This takes 5-10 mins.

6.  Now take the sauce off the heat and re-season the sauce with oregano, pepper, freshly chopped basil, olives and sun-blushed tomatoes chopped. I call this the tea bag stage, all the glorious flavours soak into the meat goodness.

7. Leave the sauce to the side and allow to cool.

Uncooked Lasagna

8. Now the white sauce, combine 2 pints of milk with 1tbsp of butter, a sprinkle of salt, pepper and sugar in a pot and bring to the boil. Once the milk mixture is lightly boiling thicken with 1-2tbsp of cornstarch mixed with water. Continuously mixing with a whisk to avoid lumps.

9. Once the sauce has thicken taste and re-season if necessary.

10. Leave to one side.

11. Assemble your lasagna now. Place 2-3 generous spoonfuls of meat sauce at the bottom of your baking dish, then place 3-4 lasagna sheets side by side. Then place 3 more spoonfuls on top. repeat the process until you have 4 levels of pasta. Or it's up to you on the how much pasta you want.

12. Then pour over your white over your pasta evenly to cover everything. Add grated cheese over the top.

13. Preheat the oven to 180C and bake for 20-30 mins or until the pasta is cooked.

14. Serve with some avocado and orange salad or simple green salad. 

This sauce can be used for a number of pasta dishes, if you want to be more healthy add more vegetables like spinach or peppers. Trust me once you have tasted your creation, you will never want to buy a ready meal again. Enjoy J