SERVES 6-8 people
Ingredients
500g Beef Mince
1 Onion peeled and finely chopped
1 Carrot peeled and grated
1 Celery stick finely diced
2 Garlic cloves finely diced
1/2 Yellow Pepper finely diced
1/2 Red Pepper finely diced
3 Tablespoons Wicklow Rapeseed oil
2 Tablespoons of Tomato Purée
700 ml of Tomato Passata (sieved Tomatoes)
1 Tablespoon Oregano dried
1 Tablespoon of Italian herbs dried
1 Tablespoon of dried Basil
50 g Fresh basil herb
120 ml Beef Stock
12 Freah Lasagne sheets
1 Glass of Italian dry white wine
Pinch of castor sugar
Freshly cracked black pepper
Salt
For the Béchamel Sauce
100 g Butter
100 g Plain flour
1 litre of full fat milk
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg ,freshly grated
For the topping
50g grated Parmesan cheese
50g grated Red Cheddar cheese
1 ball Italian Mozzarella cheese
METHOD
PREHEAT OVEN TO 180 c /fan 160 / gas 4
For the meat sauce - heat some oil in the pan and the cook onions, celery, carrots, and peppers for 5 mins on medium heat. Add in the mince meat and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes stirring continuously until coloured all over.
Season really well with salt and pepper and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Pour in the wine and stir well for approx. 3 mins to allow? the alcohol to evaporate. Add passata, tomato purée, dried herbs and beef stock and lower the heat. Continuously cook for half an hour uncovered until you get a beautiful rich sauce. Stir occasionally and season to taste
Prepare béchamel Sauce
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour and cook for 1 minute until it resembles a light brown colour.
Gradually whisk in the milk until it’s fully combined, reduce the heat and cook for 10 mins until it has thickened. Add in some nutmeg and season to taste. Set aside to cool slightly
To assemble the Lasagne, spread a quarter of the béchamel sauce over the bottom of a deep ovenproof dish measuring about 30 x 25 cm and lay 4 lasagne sheets on top. Trim if necessary to fit the dish. Spread half the meat sauce over the lasagne then top with a third of the remaining béchamel sauce.
Lay 4 more sheets of lasagne on top and cover with the remaining meat sauce. Spread half of the remaining béchamel sauce on top. Add a final layer of lasagne sheets and gently spread the remaining béchamel sauce on top, completely covering all of the pasta sheets.
Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and red cheddar cheese. Tear up mozzarella balls into small bite size pieces and scatter them on top. Grind some black peppercorns all over the top of the lasagne.
Cook on bottom shelf of pre heated oven for 30 minutes then place in middle shelf of the oven and increase the temp to 200 c/fan 180 / gas 6 and cook for a further 15 mins until golden and crispy all over.
Once ready, leave to rest for 10 minutes, it will be easier to cut and layers will hold together
Serve with salad and some sweet potato wedges, Enjoy
