You asked for Lasagne Janine, its an all time favourite in our house and this one is special.

James, Jimmy, Jimbo or Jimmy da Man, call him what you like but he’s a bit fond of a slice of my lasagne and this ones from a book he gave me a few years ago.  Thanks James. 

It takes a little time to prepare so worth making a couple of trays or one really big dish.  It freezes well, great for a Sunday night when you just got home from one of our frequent 3.5 hour drives.

 I’ll give you the cheat version using shop bought pasta – fresh but not home made is okay for this one.  Go to the bottom of the page to see all the ingredients for this one before shopping .

Lasagne Al Forno

Adapted From the book ‘the food of italy – a journey for food lovers’

Meat Sauce

30g butter (I use olive oil )

1 onion, finely chopped

1 small carrot, finely chopped

½ celery stalk, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, crushed

120g pancetta (or prosciutto and if you can’t get either bacon will do)

500g minced beef

¼ teaspoon dried oregano

Pinch nutmeg

90g chicken livers, trimmed and chopped (it’s worth it if you can get them, if not leave it out)

80ml white wine (I’ve used red when that what I have)

330 ml beef stock (I’ve just added red wine and that works too)

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

Heat the butter or oil, add the chopped vegetables, garlic and pancetta.  Cook for 5-6 minutes over a medium heat until soft and golden.  Add the mince, cook for a further 8 minutes, add the oregano and nutmeg and season well with salt and pepper.  Stir in the chicken livers and cook until they change colour, pour in the wine (1^st lot) and increase the heat and cook until evaporated.

Add beef stock and tomato paste and simmer for 2 hours!  Add a little water to keep moist but towards the end let the liquid be absorbed.

Bechamel Sauce

65g butter

40g plain flour

Pinch nutmeg

2 ¼ cups milk

1 bay leaf

Heat the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Add the flour and nutmeg and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk.  Add the bay leaf, return to the heat and simmer, stirring often, until the sauce thickens.  Season, and remove the bay leaf.

Putting together

2 packets of fresh lasagne sheets, buy the ones that don’t need pre cooking and as you can see in the photo spinach pasta looks great

1 cup grated mozzarella cheese

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Lightly grease a large oven proof dish, spread half the meat sauce in the dish.  Scatter with mozzarella, and then cover with a slightly overlapping layer of pasta sheets.  Spread half the béchamel over this and sprinkle with half the Parmesan.  Repeat the layers, finishing with a layer of béchamel and Parmesan.

Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown and leave to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Wow I might have to make this one myself this week.

Love

Mary