Between the sheets

Saturday night, 10 o’clock, dinner over, the x-box is working overtime in the bedroom, three boys are full-bellied and playing out the rest of the evening, we are sipping on some red wine and slipping the last of the plates into the dishwasher, wrapping the remaining portion of lasagne for a Sunday night leftover meal. Its simplicity never fails to please, the lasagne that is, it’s warming, wholesome and fulfilling. What could be a better meal for a bunch of ever-hungry teenagers or adults?  This simplistic dish however, takes a little forethought and planning to serve it at it’s very best. Let me take you back 24 hours to Friday night. The ragu, meat sauce, has been gently bubbling away for over an hour on the stove and will continue in its murmurings for another hour more until it is dark, thick and concentrated. The ragu is then put to one side to cool and left overnight, it'll intensify and mature in flavour as it marinates in it's juices until required for spreading between the pasta sheets, drizzled with bechamel sauce and baked in the oven to make the perfect lasagne. 

It’s quite ritualistic making this sauce, almost therapeutic. Maybe because as a young adolescent cook it would have been one of the first recipes I attempted and over time, as I have matured in years and in my cooking ability so this simple sauce has matured and developed with me. I certainly have a particular way of constructing a ragu, it can be quick and easy in its preparation but I like to take my time over it, sipping some wine, listening to some music as I carefully chop, stir and taste: very considered and rigid in its simple ingredients, I rarely deviate from the path. I have experimented with different meats: pork, beef, or a mixture, I have added chicken livers, red wine, white wine, used fresh tomato and tinned, played around with various herb combinations but I have now decided that this sauce is the one. It may not be traditionally Italian and may not be  as ‘mama’ would make (although in our household 'papa' always made the lasagne) but this recipe delivers a big rich flavour and smells terrific as it simmers gently in the kitchen, as yet I haven’t had any complaints. It is after all a very basic sauce but it's so worthwhile taking some time over it and using the best ingredients to make this lasagne recipe, as we all know ... it's what goes on between the sheets that really matters !

Lasagne al forno 

Serves 6 

• 500g lean, top quality minced beef 
• 1 onion 
• 2 celery sticks 
• 1 large carrot 
• 2 cloves garlic 
• 1 tbsp thyme leaves 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 300ml chicken stock 
• 100g tomato puree 
• 1 glass of red wine 
• 1 tsp sugar 
• 1 tsp red wine vinegar 
• 2 x 400g tins of tomato 
• Salt & pepper 
• 2 tbsp olive oil 
• 8 lasagne sheets 
• 50g parmesan cheese for grating 

Béchamel sauce 

• 600ml warm milk 
• 50g butter 
• 100g cheddar cheese 
• 1 tbsp flour 

I always use, where possible, organic vegetables and home made stock. Use an organic stock cube if you don’t have home made. I use the best tined tomato I can afford and a good full-bodied red wine, this is a large glass, about 1/3 of a bottle, cheers! 

Mise en place: everything in place. When preparing a recipe I like to have everything in place, all my ingredients lined up, chopped, sliced, crushed and ready. So begin by finely chopping the onion, carrot, and celery, thinly slice the garlic, warm the stock, grate the cheese, strip the leaves from the sprigs of thyme and pour the wine. In a large sauté pan gently soften the onion, carrot, celery and garlic in a little olive oil and cover, slowly soften without browning for 6 minutes or so and then turn the heat up slightly and carefully crumble the minced meat into the pan. Mix well so the meat starts to colour evenly then season with a little salt & pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes. Add the thyme and bay leaves, the red wine vinegar and the sugar, cook for a few minutes longer until the vinegar has evaporated. Now add the tomato puree, mix well and add the red wine. Turn down the heat and cook for a while more until the wine is reduced and is barely remaining. Add the tinned tomato and the stock, stir well and turn the heat down to a slow simmer, the lowest setting you have, a very gentle lazy bubble. 

The ragu now needs to cook very slowly, a couple of hours, but you need to keep an eye on it and care for it through the cooking process, stirring every now and again and topping up with a little more stock, wine or water if more liquid is required and carefully adjusting the seasoning. When it is cooked it’ll be a thick, concentrated rich meaty sauce. This can now be left in the fridge ready for the next day or freeze it for another time. When it comes to making the lasagne, re-heat the meat ragu gently to loosen, as it would have solidified somewhat in the fridge. 

I always pre-cook my lasagne sheets. The ‘no pre-cooking required’ sheets that can be obtained always feel a bit stodgy and tough to me. So I use good quality dried lasagne sheets, pre cooked in boiling salted water for a few minutes and laid between tea towels until I need them. 

For the white, béchamel sauce, gently melt the butter in a pan, remove from the heat when bubbling and stir in the sifted flour until smooth, return the pan to the heat and let the flour ‘cook-out’ in the butter until it is puffy, stir all the time, don’t let it burn. Remove the pan from the heat; gently and gradually stir in the warm milk until you have a velvety smooth sauce the texture of double cream. Return to the heat and cook gently, stirring all the time until the sauce thickens, you can add more milk if required but I like the end result to have a consistency of custard. Season the sauce with salt & pepper then stir in the grated cheese. 

Now simply layer up all the elements but start with a thin layer of the ragu and some of the béchamel in the bottom of your ovenproof dish. Then a layer of lasagne sheets, some more ragu, more béchamel, lasagne and so on for four or five layers, pour the remaining béchamel all over the top to ‘seal’ and grate the Parmesan cheese evenly over. Place on a tray and in a medium oven, 180 degrees, for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp on the surface and bubbling around the sides of the dish.