Good Old Fashioned Lasagne Recipe.

Ciao Miei Amici!

Welcome back to my recipe blog, I hope you have had a good Easter and have upheld the religious tradition of stuffing yourselves with chocolate eggs whilst watching a James Bond film!

I have had an excellent weekend of eating great food at Digbeth Dining Club, Drinking fantastic cocktails at a bar in Birmingham called The Jeckyl and Hyde. ( I can highly recommend the Turkish delight cocktail!) and cooking this Lasagne recipe for a very special dinner guest. ( I can't tell you, it's a secret!)

I've always loved making lasagne, its not a lot of fuss really and is always a winner for easy-eating dinner. The way I do it takes a little time and I do like to do the construction part of it the day before I cook it off as I find this helps all of the different parts of it relax into each other overnight, the lasagne sheets soak up some of the liquid from the ragu (the meat sauce) and the creamy bechamel, so it's easier to slice into portions when cooked and doesn't fall apart.

The recipe I'm showing you today doesn't use any cheese. This is partly because the person I was sharing it with doesn't like cooked cheese (I know!) and, besides, genuine lasagne doesn't contain any cheese. To be honest, I do usually grate Parmesan or Pecorino cheese into the ragu and a nice thick layer all over the top, but I aim to please with my cooking so I've left out the cheese from the ragu and used a classic Italian crumb for the top which is just a mixture of breadcrumbs, chopped parsley, olive oil and lemon juice.




So without further ado, lets cook!

Lasagne Recipe ( part 1, creamy bechamel sauce.)

Equipment:

2 Medium saucepans.

Measuring jug.

Wooden spoon.

Balloon whisk.

Ingredients:

1 smallish red onion, topped and tailed, papery skin removed.

1 good tablespoon of butter.

1 heaped tablespoon of plain flour.

400ml of whole milk.

3 bay leaves.

5 whole cloves.

A good pinch of white pepper.

A good pinch of salt.

Method:

Put the milk in one of the saucepans and then fix the bay leaves to the onion using the cloves as drawing pins.

Pop the studded onion into the milk and heat until its just about to boil, then remove from the heat and allow to infuse and go cold for about an hour.

When the infused milk has cooled, remove the onion from the milk and take the bay leaves and cloves off. The onion can then be used in the beef ragu.

 

 The bechamel sauce is best made after the beef ragu is done, so it doesn't go to gloopy or form a skin, so do the next part when the ragu is finished.

In the second saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat.

roux.

Add the flour to the melted butter and mix together well to make a roux.












Allow the roux to cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly to prevent it sticking.


Add a splash of the infused milk and stir constantly, don't worry too much if it goes a bit lumpy at first, as you gradually add more of the milk you can start using your whisk and all the lumps will disappear.

Add the milk, a little at a time until you get a smooth white bechamel. When you have whisked all the milk in your sauce should be about the thickness of double cream. If it's too thick, you can add some fresh milk to it to thin it out.Have a little taste and season with white pepper and a pinch of salt.

 

 

Minced Beef Ragu Recipe:

 

 Equipment:

Large saucepan.

Frying pan.

Ingredients:

500g of quality minced beef.

2 medium carrots, finely diced, or grated, if you prefer.


A good handful of finely sliced celery.( I use the bottom part of the celery as I find it has a more gutsy flavour.)

2 smallish red onions, finely diced.

1 tin of chopped tomatoes.

2 plump cloves of garlic, finely sliced.

2 tablespoons of tomato puree.

a few sprigs of dried thyme.

3 slices of  thick cut smoked back bacon, or 5 slices of smoked streaky bacon.

A bottle of robust red wine.

1 star anise. ( you don't have to use this, but I find it gives the lasagne a nice subtle aniseed flavour that goes really well with the mince and the wine.)

1 tablespoon of beef stock granules, or 2 beef stock cubes.

Olive oil.

Salt and fresh ground black pepper.

Method:

Put the large saucepan on the stove over a low to medium heat with a splash of olive oil.

Cut the bacon slices into lardons ( just a posh name for diced bacon really!) and chuck them in the pan. Gently fry for 5 minutes until it just starts to take on a little colour. and add the diced onions. ( one fresh one and the one you used to make the bechamel.)

Saute the bacon and onions for about 5 minutes, if anything starts to stick to the pan then add a splash of the red wine to stop it burning onto the bottom.

Add the diced, or grated, carrot to the pan and give it all a good mix round. cook for another 5 minutes then add the fine sliced celery and the sliced garlic.

Pop in the star anise, the thyme sprigs (you can either rub the leaves off the woody stems between the palms of your hands or throw the lot in, stems and all, then fish out the stems later on.)
 and beef stock or stock cubes, again, if anything starts to stick, loosen it with another splash of the wine.

Let the mix cook gently while you do the beef mince.

The mince is best done in a separate pan as if you just put it in with the bacon and veg mix it will boil rather than fry, you can put it straight in if you want, but I prefer the texture of the mince when it has been dry-fried separately, you get nice, browned mince and a more interesting texture to the ragu.

Heat a frying pan, with no oil, to medium and put the mince in in one piece, like a giant square hamburger.

Brown on one side for a few minutes before turning it over to brown the other side.
When it has browned on both sides start to break it up  along the grain of the mince.










Continue to fry until it's browned all over and looks like
a panfull of worms! Then add the mince to the bacon and veg mix and slosh a little wine into the frying pan to de-glaze, give it a bit of a scrape to get all the little crunchy bits of beef and add to the saucepan.

Add the rest of the wine, apart from a small glass full to add at the end.

Then add the tomato puree, the tin of tomatoes and about 150 ml of water.






Bring up to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer, uncovered, for about 2 hours, If you are using the star anise then fish it out after about an hour. Let the sauce reduces down to a nice thick meaty ragu, giving it a stir every now and then. If you are going to cook it the day after then you don't want it to be too thick so that when you layer up the lasagne the pasta sheets will soak up the juices. When you're satisfied that its just the right consistency add the last bit of wine and season with black pepper and a little salt, if you need it, and you're done!

Building the lasagne:

I use a 5 inch x 8 inch x 3 inch ceramic gratin dish to bake my lasagne in but you can use a roasting tin if you want, whatever you normally use.




Start with a little bechamel sauce spread over the bottom, then a layer of lasagne sheets so it just covers the bechamel. Then a layer of the ragu. Its really up to you from here on but I like to do another layer of pasta, then bechamel, then ragu and so on. As long as there is enough bechamel to cover the top at the end you're laughing!

 Don't be tempted to use too many lasagne sheets as the pasta will expand overnight to fill the the dish as it soaks up the juices. Cover with tin foil and stick it in the fridge.

To make the Italian crumb topping then just mix together about 6 tablespoons of dry breadcrumbs, a good handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped, a glug of olive oil and a decent squeeze of fresh lemon juice.

To bake the lasagne:

Pre-heat the oven to 180 degrees c / gas mark 4.

take the lasagne out of the fridge about half an hour before you want to bake it.

Put the lasagne dish on a baking tray, still covered with the foil, on the bottom shelf of the oven and bake for about 40 minutes.

Take the lasagne out of the oven, remove the foil and either add grated cheese ( a good strong cheddar is nice, or Parmesan, or even a mix of the two.) if you are making the Italian crumb then sprinkle that over the top.

Return the lasagne to the oven, without the foil, for about another 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the sauce is just oozing over the sides of the dish.

Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 10 minutes before portioning it up.

I serve mine with just a simple dressed green salad, a few chunks of baby plum tomatoes and some home made garlic bread, oh, and a good bottle of red wine. Italian, naturally!

Well, once again, thanks for reading. I know everyone has their own way of doing lasagne but next time you do one, give this recipe a try. It really does add a whole new level of flavour to a very popular dish!

My next blog is going to be a bit different from usual as this weekend I'll be helping my mate Andy Stubbs of "Low n' slow" American style barbecue prep and serve up for a special "pop-up" night he's doing next Monday at a bar in Birmingham. I'll be sharing with you some of his secrets to the best barbecue food in the midlands so don't miss it!

Until then, friends,

Happy cooking!

 

Mat.