Lasagna at home

Lasagna obsessions originating from the Garfield cartoons. If you're feeling a classic lasagna night, try this recipe I've put together to satisfy my lasagna night!

Questo è la mia occasione scrivere in italiano! Il mio cibo preferito è la lasagna e mi piacciono i pomodori nelle lasagne perché c'è delizioso. Perhaps I'll look back at this when I am better at Italian and shake my head at myself!

Tomatoes

Go natural and skip the canned tomatoes. You just need 5 regular tomatoes. Chop them up and simmer with the minced beef then they will release the natural tomato juice.

If you'd like to use canned tomatoes, go ahead and use 1 can.

Minced beef

You can substitute the beef with minced chicken or pork.

Going vegetarian? Switch the beef to green lentils. Same cooking directions!

Fetteasca Regala

There's no need to specifically use this type of wine. Any other white wine will do.

Homemade bechamel sauce

Only butter, flour, milk and cream cheese. Did something different with the bechamel sauce by adding cream cheese for extra cheesiness.

Baking dish

I'm using a 21cm (l) x 18cm (w) x 6cm (h) baking dish.

Video version of the lasagna:

---

This makes 5 servings

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

300g minced beef

1 small white onion (chopped)

5 vine tomatoes (chopped)

1 cup fetteasca regala

1 1/2 cups water

40g chicken stock cube

1 tbsp dried mixed herbs

pinch of salt

2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp plain flour

1 1/2 cups milk

75g cream cheese

100g fresh lasagna sheets

1/2 cup parmigiano reggiano

Pinch of dried parsley

Method:

1. In a pan under medium heat, heat a tablespoon of olive oil. Fry the minced beef until browned. Add in the chopped white onions and continue to fry with the beef until they become translucent. Add in the chopped tomatoes and mix evenly.

2. Pour in the cup of fetteasca regala and continue mix it with the ingredients in the pan then add in water. Once it starts to boil, add in the chicken stock cube and mixed herbs. Simmer for 30 minutes on low heat. Once done simmering, the mixture should have thickened and break up any tomatoes if they are still in big chunks to create the sauce. Add in a pinch of salt.

3. Preheat the oven at 180C.

4. In a separate pot under medium heat, melt the butter. Add in the flour and keep stirring. Pour in the milk and continuously stir until the mixture thickens which will take about a minute. Add in the cream cheese and stir until evenly combined. Turn the heat off.

5. In a baking dish, start layering with the minced beef-tomato mixture, fresh lasagna sheets, minced beef-tomato mixture, bechamel sauce, fresh lasagna sheets, minced beef-tomato mixture and bechamel sauce. Top with parmigiano reggiano on the top layer. Bake for 30 minutes at 180C.

6. Once baked, garnish with dried parsley.

---