Thursday, August 10, 2006
Finally - My Lasagne
As I promised earlier, this post is all about yesterday's dinner - lasagne. Remember, a while back I promised you a recipe for lasagne. I have made a few promises before that I didn't keep (keyword: Mongolian food), but this one was sure to be fulfilled not only because lofty and I both love the dish, but also because my recipe has actually grown quite nice with time and many past errors. I know, it was a bit unfortunate to make a baked pasta dish the day after a baked pasta dish, but where I had a problem of overabundance of food until a few days ago, I was now faced with an empty fridge again. I really need to learn to plan my shopping better. But now is not the time to change my ways. Rather, I will share the result of endless fights with burnt béchamel sauce and runny Bolognese - my lasagne.For the Bolognese sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely diced
200g mushrooms, sliced (or, if you don't like chunks in your sauce, finely chopped)
1 can (425g) chopped tomatoes (or, if they are in season, 5 large diced tomatoes)
250ml red wine
400g ground beef (or an equivalent volume of mixed vegetables - I can't give any fixed quantities here as it all depends on the stuff you chose; just think of how much they shrink down in the cooking process and use as much as you would like in the tomato sauce)
1 tsb sugar (if needed)
1 tsp fresh basil, roughly chopped
For the béchamel sauce:
5og butter
50g flour
550ml full fat milk (if you are on a low fat diet, you can use low fat, but be warned, the sauce may not thicken properly; or at least mine did not)
1 tbsp fresh Parmesan
salt and pepper to taste
To assemble:
2 tbsp crème fraîche
8 to 10 lasagne sheets (Make sure you use pasta made from durum wheat otherwise they will fall apart, but don't worry about getting anything expensive. I always use Tesco Value, which cost 49 cents, and they are perfect.)
about 200g grated mozzarella (or enough sliced mozzarella to cover the lasagne dish you are using)
For the Bolognese sauce, heat the olive oil in a large shallow saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and lightly sauté until translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and continue cooking until soft, about 1 more minute. Now add the carrot and mushrooms and cook until the carrot bits are tender and the mushrooms have released all of their moisture, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook down to a paste. This may take a little while depending on the amount of water in your tomatoes, but be patient the end result is well worth it. The tomatoes gain in flavour the longer they are cooked. When you sauce has thickened, pour in the red wine and reduce it so it becomes a syrupy glaze coating the vegetables. Add the mince or vegetables and sweat down to a rich sauce.
To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat. Turn up the heat and add the flour. Stir to incorporate well. Continue cooking for about two minutes to make a golden roux. Reduce the heat again and slowly pour in the milk whisking well between additions to prevent the sauce from going lumpy. Slowly return to the boil, stirring almost constantly. If you know what you are doing, you could probably speed up the process, but I have not found a way to get the sauce thickened quickly without burning it. Cook until the sauce has reached a creamy consistency. Remove from the heat and add the parmesan. Mix well and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius. Bring a large saucepan full of water to a rapid boil. Add a pinch of salt along with the pasta sheets. Cook until pliable, about 3 to 5 minutes. Drain well and set aside in a single layer to prevent the sheets from sticking together.
To assemble, cover the bottom of a large baking dish with a layer of béchamel sauce. Top with a layer of pasta sheets and pour over some more béchamel sauce. Cover with a layer of Bolognese sauce at and top with another layer of the pasta. Repeat the procedure until all ingredients are used up, finishing with a thin layer of béchamel. Dot the lasagne with small dollops of crème fraîche. Cover the whole dish with grated cheese and bake in the oven until the cheese is melted and golden, about 20 to 25 minutes.
Christine at 8:32 pm
