Beef Lasagne is a classic Italian-American dishthat packs a lot of flavour and comfort into one delicious meal.
Ingredients
1packetboil-freelasagne pasta
2cupsgrated mozzarella cheese
1cupEmmental cheese
Meat Sauce
2stalkcelery, finely chopped
2pcscarrot, finely chopped
1pcslarge onion, finely chopped
2tspminced garlic
500gground beef
2tspsalt
1tspblack pepper powder
2canschopped tomatoes
3tbsptomato paste
2 tbsporegano
1/2tspsugar
3 cupswater
3tbspolive oil
Béchamel Sauce
5tbspbutter
5tbspall-purpose flour
5-6cupsmilk
4tspsalt
1/2tspwhite pepper powder
1pinch nutmeg
Instructions
Meat Sauce
For the meat sauce, in a medium-sized pot, sauté the celery, carrots and onions with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the ground beef and season with salt and black pepper powder.
Once the meat has browned, add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, sugar and water; mix and bring the mixture to a boil on high heat, then cover the pot and leave to simmer on low heat for about 25 minutes until the sauce thickens.
Béchamel Sauce
To make the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a separate pot on medium–low heat. Mix the flour with the melted butter to make the roux. Continue mixing the roux until it has turned slightly golden brown. It is important to brown the roux to remove the floury flavour from your béchamel sauce.
Add the milk and continue mixing to avoid any clumps and to avoid anything from sticking to the base. If the sauce is too thick, add more milk. Season with salt, white pepper powder and nutmeg. Remove from heat and keep aside.
Assembling
Pre-heat oven to 200°C.
To assemble, alternatively layer the meat sauce, béchamel sauce and lasagne pasta in a large ovenproof casserole. Repeat at least 2–3 times depending on the depth of the tray.
On the final layer, pour the remaining meat sauce, then the béchamel sauce and top with the mozzarella cheese and Emmental cheese.
Bake in pre-heated over for 40 to 45 minutes, or until the lasaga is golden-brown. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving and enjoy with a mixed green salad.