My lasagne (naked style!) (Baking)

Member Name: Ally-doo-lally

Product:	Baking
Date:	28/02/09 (131 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: tasted like italy and I had fun making it

Disadvantages: sometimes my cooking experiments aren't so fruitful

Okay firstly I am not a very precise cook, I tend to make stuff up as I go along and if it works then I go with it (kind of like the naked chef!). My cooking motto is 'taste it and see what it needs' and I'm a great believer in secret ingredients! As a result of this my cooking is often awful...but when it's good....boy is it good!

So anyway, I am here to share with you one of those times when it was good.

I thought I'd make lasagne from scratch to impress my boyfriend when he got home from work. We had loads of those pasta sheets hanging around anyway from previous attempts at this (not all bad) but if you don't they are ridiculously cheap. Especially if you buy those no frills supermarket's own ones - and there's no reason not to as they're just as good and you're going to be adding your own flavours to it anyway.

So here goes...


The ingredients I used were as follows ~

for the mince~

Mince (I used roughly half a large pack of beef mince)

Oregano (I used a heaped teaspoon of the dried stuff but if you can be bothered the fresh stuff would almost certainly be nicer) More or less of this as you see fit - as I said I was just making it up as I went along anyway!

Balsamic vinegar - A generous splash (This was the 'secret' ingredient I didn't tell my boyfriend about until after he'd eaten it - he hates the stuff )

Salt and pepper - I used rather a lot because thats how I like it.

A tin of chopped tomatoes (again the cheapy supermarket brand)


For the 'béchamel' sauce~ I put this in quotations as really this is just my bog standard white sauce which I use for everything from fish pie to mac and cheese. Of course I do vary it but I'm not sure it's technically béchamel although it's easier to make and works very well.

White flour - Around half a cup (A small sized mug- I know this as I remember using my marilyn monroe mug!)

Margarine or butter - I used a large knob of marge

Milk - I'd say about a pint was used here but I really do just look for what I think the right consistency should be - in this case custard thickness is perfect.

Also you need some pasta sheeting and enough grated cheese to cover the top of the lasagne!

Equipment~

A wok - to brown the mince
A collinder - to drain the fat from the mince
2 wooden spoons - for stirring the white sauce and the mince seperately and for use in layering.
A mug - for measuring
A spoon - to accurately estimate (oh the irony) a 'knob' of margarine.
A Pyrex dish - for the finished product

oh and a cheese grater for grating cheese

NB This creates A LOT of washing up I realise but I'm assuming you can palm it off on however you cook it for.

The Method ~

Mince~

First I browned the mince and squeezed all the fat out of it - this is where I really wouldn't skimp on price as you do definitely get what you pay for - The cheap stuff is mostly fat so but good quality and your dish will be nicer. After the fat is gone fry it dry for a few seconds to really brown it nicely.

Then, to this brown mince I sprinkled my oregano, salt and pepper and my splash of 'secret ingredient'! before plopping the whole tin of tomatoes in. then left this to simmer gently whilst I made the 'béchamel' sauce.


White or 'béchamel' sauce ~

Begin with a rue - this is one of the only cooking tips my mother taught me and what a gem it is too! If you don't know what a rue is; it's the name given to melted butter after the white flour is added to make a hot dough like lump. Make this over continuous heat before gradually adding the milk a splash at a time mixing every time (It will start out really thick and thin down as you add the milk). Never leave this un-attended as it is a constant process. If you need more milk to get the consistency you want don't hesitate to add it.

After this it's just a case of layering it up and adding the cheese to the top - the process I used was mince, pasta, (there is no need to precook this) white sauce. I started with mince and did a few rounds making sure I ended on white sauce before covering it in grated cheese and cooking it in the oven at about 200 celsius for half and hour. Make sure you keep checking it though, don't want it to burn!

It is lovely served with rocket and baby leaf spinach too!

Summary: perfect comfort food