Afelia's Lasagne
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the bolognese:
  • 900g mutton mince
  • 1 large onion
  • 6 cloves of garlic
  • 2 carrots
  • 1 tbsp oil
  • 1.5 tsp salt (taste and adjust if necessary)
  • 1 can chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp curry powder (I use either Bolsts Mild Mixed curry powder or TRS Madras curry powder for this)
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 1 tsp coriander powder
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
For the cheese sauce:
  • 6 tbsp butter
  • 6 tbsp plain flour
  • 1 pint of milk
  • 100g mature cheddar
  • pinch of sage, nutmeg and ground white pepper
  • ½ tsp salt
  • water as needed (I used a little water to loosen the sauce)
For layering lasagne:
  • 10 - 11 lasagne sheets
  • 100g mature cheddar grated (this is used for the top of the lasagne, so don't add it to the bolognese)
Method
  1. I measured out all the ingredients I needed for the cheese sauce (bottom left photo), you literally only need a pinch of sage, nutmeg and ground white pepper to season the sauce as they're quite strong flavours. Using mature cheddar gives the sauce a fuller flavour, if you want a healthier lasagne leave the cheese in the sauce out.
  2. In the bottom right photo I have measured out 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 2 tbsp soy sauce and 1 tbsp Worcester sauce,
  3. Start by peeling and dicing 1 large onion, 6 cloves of garlic and finely blitzing 2 carrots in a food processor.
  4. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large non stick pan and add the diced onion and diced garlic once hot. Saute for a few minutes until lightly brown in colour.
  5. Once the onions look slightly brown as in the top left photo, add the mince, followed by 1.5 tsp salt.
  6. Mix and cover to cook through for 5 minutes until the mince is brown and has released water.
  7. Once the mince has released water add all of the following ingredients: 1 can chopped tomatoes, 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp cumin powder, 1 tsp coriander powder, 2 tbsp tomato puree, 2 tbsp soy sauce....
  8. tbsp Worcester sauce and the 2 blitzed carrots.
  9. Give everything a good mix, have a taste of the sauce and adjust the salt if you feel you need it.
  10. It's very important to cover the mince while it cooks as we want to retain all the moisture and avoid this evaporating during the cooking process as this is what will help cook the lasagne sheets through. Cover and allow to simmer over a low heat whilst you prepare the cheese sauce.
  11. In a good non stick pan melt 6 tbsp of butter.
  12. Once fully melted add 6 tbsp of plain flour and stir till all the flour is absorbed into the butter, fry for a minute or two to remove the raw taste from the flour.
  13. Measure 1 pint of milk (approx. 570ml), using warm milk helps to prevent the sauce from forming lumps, heat in the microwave or in a pan.
  14. Add the milk SLOWLY, a little at a time, always ensuring the milk is absorbed into the roux (butter and flour mixture) before adding more milk.
  15. With each addition of milk make sure you use your spoon (a wooden one works best for this) to beat out any lumps in the roux.
  16. After adding the first dash of milk, this is what the roux looked like (top left photo).
  17. I continued to add milk GRADUALLY till it looked like each of the photos (bottom left and right). I have included photos of each stage so that those of you that may have never made a white sauce from scratch are familiar with the process.
  18. Eventually the roux will stop looking like a roux and more like a sauce, keep mixing and adding milk till you have used all of the milk up. Simmer the sauce over a gentle heat to help thicken it.
  19. The sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and not run off immediately.
  20. Add the pinch of sage, nutmeg and ground white pepper at this stage....
  21. followed by 100g of mature cheddar. Don't be lazy like me and add the cheddar in blocks, using grated cheddar is better as it melts quicker, lol!
  22. Once the cheese has melted, check the consistency of the sauce. I felt my sauce was a little too thick after adding the cheese so I added a splash of water to loosen it, add one tbsp at a time to avoid making the sauce too runny.
  23. Again check the consistency of the sauce, it should coat the back of a spoon and when you run your finger through the sauce it should leave a clean line, as in the bottom left photo, that's when you know your sauce is thick enough.
  24. Turn off the heat and immediately cover the pan with clingfilm to prevent the sauce forming a skin. For the first few minutes you may want to leave a gap in the clingfilm to allow the steam to escape, once cooler, seal completely till the sauce is ready to use.
  25. By now your bolognese will be cooked through but should have enough liquid in it to also cook the lasagne sheets. The top right photo shows you what the cooked filling will look like, as you can see the bolognese is quite saucy.
  26. Select a dish that is wide and long enough to fit the lasagne sheets without having to break them up too much.
  27. Divide the bolognese into three portions and start to evenly layer the first portion into your chosen dish.
  28. Place lasagne 3 lasagne sheets over the top of the bolognese.
  29. Next add a layer of cheese sauce, again imagine you have to divide the sauce into 3 portions and add enough to cover the sheets.
  30. Continue layering the bolognese and lasagne sheets (I added a broken sliver of lasagne sheet to fill in the gap at the edge, bottom right photo)....
  31. and cheese sauce in this order, till you have used up all the bolognese and sauce.
  32. When I got to my last layer of lasagne sheets I felt the cheese sauce had cooled and thickened too much to be able to spread over my sheets, so I added a little more water to the sauce to loosen it. Don't be afraid to adjust the sauce if you feel you need to.
  33. You should end up with three layers of meat, lasagne sheets and cheese sauce, finishing with a layer of cheese sauce on top.
  34. Sprinkle the remaining 100g of grated cheddar and then pop the lasagne into a hot preheated oven, gas mark 6 (200°C or 400°F) and bake for 30 mins or until the lasagne looks brown and bubbly on top and the sheets are cooked through.
  35. Serve with your favourite salad and enjoy!
Recipe by www.afeliaskitchen.com at https://www.afeliaskitchen.com/afelias-lasagne/