Lasagne Recipes!

Sure thing Alisia. I have lots of vegan and allergy-free recipies.

Cailin, you lasagne sounds great! I can see why you'd have lots of dinner guests.

I have one useful tip!! Put a layer of pasta on the bottom with 4 tablespoons of water then start your layering. The bottom layer helps with serving and it makes it easier!!

Also my god mother always cooks hers a couple of hours before dinner lets in cool in the oven and then cuts it up and re-cooks it!! She said that also helps with serving!! I have never tried it cause I neer know what I am cooking till its to late!! Lol....

Agree with everything Cailin says!

My additional tips are: chicken livers in the ragu.....very finely chopped......gives the ragu an extra creaminess....

And for the bechamal, I always add a good teaspoon of dry english mustard powder as well as a very sharp bitey cheese....

i do my sauce from scratch and always leave it a bti runny, and i cook my lasagne over an hour n a 150c oven and the sheets are always cooked thru.

:D Well, it turned out a treat... thats to all you lovely ladies!!! Not only did she LOVE it, she ate the leftovers the next night for dinner too! Very rare, as she doesn't generally like having the same thing two nights in a row (my girl is a bit fussy! lol!). It was soooooo good!!!!

One tiny problem was that i tried the water in the bottom thing, and unfortunately must have put to much in (lol!), so it was a bit runny the first night, but the sheets were all cooked through... when reheated it was pretty good though!!!

Am making it again this week (at Shel's request), and have bought some fresh lasagne sheets, so I don't really have to worry about the water.

:D thanks everyone!!!!

I always add Curry powder to my bolognniase & let it simmer all day, it's never been the same recipe twice as I grab whatever I have in the cupboard at the time & just wing it!?

Hey :D

I caught this thread a little late - but oh well, maybe it will help for next time :rolleyes:

I always use the Latina lasagne sheets (They're in the cold section where you buy the latina pastas, etc).
They're soft already, and you can just cut them however you need - size and shape, etc. (They freeze and defrost well, too).

My DH is not only Sicilian, but he's an Italian a- la carte chef, so you can imagine how picky he is when it comes to someone else cooking.... especially Italian food!!!;)

My secret ingredient in my lasagne (and its how they do it in Sicily according to my DH & his father - who is also a chef by the way!) is to make it with 3/4 part beef mince and 1/4 part pork mince.

I've made it this way, and with just beef mince, and you can really tell the difference... MUCH better with the pork mince in it.

I make mine with 1kg mince - 750g beef, 250g pork... and I only buy the pork mince from the butcher, as DH wouldn't eat it otherwise!!!

Try it for next time and see - you'll be able to taste the difference!

Its the dish I'm known for with all of our family & friends - Even the staff of FIL's restaurant all like my lasagne better than the one they have to make!!!! (Home made is always better anyway!)

Apart from that, I do add fresh chillies to mine - Only because we're a chilli loving household... I take it out or leave it in depending on whos coming for dinner!!!!

;)hi girls i was wondering if someone can give me a nice LASAGNE recipe ,i had lasagne at a cafe the other day and it had bechamel sauce on the top or something like that it was so yummy
please help as i cant cook for crap:p

This is my recipe:

Meat bit:
500g mince beef
1 tin diced tomatoes
1 tin whole tomatoes
various vegies any or all of fresh tomatoes, capsicums, onion, mushrooms, zucchini
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt (I usually use less!)
1 clove garlic (I usually use more!!)
spices to taste - I usually use basil, oregano and rosemary

So you cook all that up similar to a bolognaise, and as it's reducing, you cook the:

Bechamel sauce:
melt 60g butter in a saucepan
stir in 4 tablespoons of plain flour
cook that for 1 min
then gradually add 2 cups of milk
then add 1/2 cup grated cheese
then add 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan.
salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste

Then I put lasagne noodles on the bottom of the lasagne dish.
Do a layer of meat
Then a layer of bechamel sauce
Then another layer of noodles
Then another layer of meat
Then another layer of noodles
Then the rest of the bechamel sauce on top, being sure to cover the noodles or I find they burn
Sprinkle the top with parmesan and cook at about 200 for 30 - 40 mins.

Then

Lasagna is easy and you can get it all in jars!!

I make a large one that give 6 large portions so that we have leftovers

What u will need is:

Lasagna Sheets (i use the dry ones) 2 packets (as sometimes u need to break some up and they often have some broken in packets.
Mince (1kg dpends how much u want to make)
Jar of bolognaises sauce (i like spicy peppers one)
Jar of bechamel sauce
Grated cheese (500gram bag)
tim of crushed tomatoes
Onion (1 large)
Garlic (crushed is easiset)
salt and pepper
orgenao
chilli (optional)

Brown the mince and onion and add herbs and garlic.
Add tin of cruched tomatoes and jar of sauce and allow to simmer for aroudn 10 mins.

In pyrex dish (or what ever u plan on making it in) add a teaspoon of water, then lie a layer of pasta sheets, then layer of meat sprinkle with small amount of grated cheese and about 2 spoon of bechamel sauce. Repeat this about 3 times depending on how deep container is and how much meat you have.

After you have layered numerous times put last layer of pasta on and use majority of jar of bechamel sauce and coat the pasta sheets and then cover with grated cheese fairly thikly!
Out in oven for around 45 mins to 1 hr on around 180 degrees

YUMMO

You can grate vegies into mince if you want

;)oh thanks girls ive never made it so going to give it a try.

My secret recipe is basically the same as Manta Rays recipe but leave out the crushed tomatoes and replace with a can of Big Red tomato soup. I do this because I dont eat tomatoes and EVERYONE I cook this for demands the recipe. My other secret weapon is about 4 tbsp of mixed herbs ..... delish!

Smithy, you can try mine at mrsmacs and see if you like it ;)

My instructions are a little vague (as far as measurements, etc) - I just add as I go, so sorry in advance :redface:

1kg mince (I usually do 750g of beef mince and 250g of pork mince)
4 cloves garlic
Italian herbs/spices
lasagne sheets (I use the Latina ones in the cold section where their sauces etc are)
Approx 500g grated cheese
Milk
Butter
Plain Flour
2 x Jars of your favourite Italian sauces that you would use to make pasta with.
(I use the Masterfoods Tuscan Meatball sauce mix - Its a lot richer though)
Tomato Paste (i just add a few spoonfuls as I go!)
Salt/pepper to taste.
Chilli (Optional - if you like it... I'm not adding it for the BB meet up, but I usually cook with it ;))


Cook the mince in a fry pan and drain.
Add garlic, herbs/spices, chilli, salt, pepper, etc.
Add sauce mix and tomato paste until it makes a nice consistency, leave to simmer. The longer you let it simmer, the more the flavour will come through the meat - I usually let it simmer for an hour or two (sometimes longer) if I have the time.

To make bechamel sauce, melt a big chunck of butter in a saucepan, and I gradually add the flour and then the milk while it turns into a paste.
I just add the flour and milk as it needs it until you make as much as you need - I usually make about a half of a medium sized saucepan.

Add handfuls of grated cheese until they melt through - how much is entirely dependant on how cheesy you like the bechamel... we're a very cheesy family in this house ;)
Add salt to taste (I usually use garlic salt to enhance the garlicy flavour)

In a lasagne pan, spoon half the meat, layer with the lasagne sheets and then half the bechamel sauce.
Then add the remaining meat, sheet and sauce.

For the top layer, sprinkle grated cheese to cover - I usually sprinkle parmesan over the top of the tasty cheese - and then I sprinkle a mix of italian herbs over the top of that.

Bake at 180 for approx 45min - 1 hour depending on your oven.

Sorry its so vague!!! Its a bit of a made up recipe... but its very yummy!!! :p

Good luck!

ETA I don't add any veggies in mine, as DH thinks it would be sacreligious (sp?) (He's a Sicilian chef).. and doesn't believe in veggies in his lasagne!!! :rolleyes:
In saying that though - Its not to say its wrong, (nothings wrong - Its your lasagne!).
I've read and tried HEAPS of different recipes with the veggies in it... Its just what he likes, so that how I've made it over the years!!!!

mine is similiar to matarays

if you really want the best one go for the from scratch version the others are nice but OMG!!!!!!! from scratch is divine

I cook my bolognaise sauce (mince, garlic and Leggo's bolognaise sauce) and make the bechamel/cheese sauce.

I also oven roast 1-2 large red capsicums (they shrink heaps) in the oven untill the skin bubbles and darkens/blackens. I then place on a plate and cover with cling wrap. Once cool I peel the skin off and use the capsicum flesh as a layer in my lasagne.

I also use eggplant in mine which I pan fry. So that is also added with the capsicum layer.

So my layers are:

Fresh lasagne sheets (so much more tender and melt in your mouth then dried)
bolognaise sauce
lasagne sheets
very thin layer of cheese sauce or bolognaise sauce (for moisture) topped with capsicum and eggplant
bit more cheese sauce
lasagne sheets
rest of bolognaise sauce
lasagne sheets
then cheese sauce to finish off sprinkled with more cheese.

I cover mine with foil and bake for about 40min on medium heat (200 fan forced) and then I take the foil off and cook for a further 10-15min to brown the top. Yummy!

My DH doesn't like cheese so I use mozarella in mine, so it isn't cheesey.

;)oh thanks everyone im going to try it tomorrow nite as dh is buying me chinese tonight

HOLLY cant wait to try yours hun, and i just cant wait to see you in sydney yay

I have to say I'm with Rach. I love it from scratch. Plus I hate using jar stuff when the boys are eating it due to the salt content. I am sure I make the lowest sodium pastas you can get.

ETA, I should mention the tinned tomatoes I use are the ones with the lowest salt content - the Coles Australian tomatoes ones - just 6mg per 100g.

Plus, I agree that the vegies make it less traditional, but I can't help myself - I take every opportunity to get vegies into the boys. Even though they actually like vegies I also "hide" them when I can to get extras in LOL!!

My DH is the lasagne cook in our house, and he makes the best lasagne EVER!!!!!!

He uses the recipe that in on the back of the San Remo Curly Lasagne Sheets, and over time has made slight adaptations to it, to our taste (more of this, less of that...sorry he is at work, so I don't know what they are, and I can't ask him - but I do know that he adds a bit of chilli flakes, and a good plop of wine*).

His lasagne is absolutely massive, and will fill a large Pyrex baking tray thingy to the top. I reckon we would get at least 12 serves from the one tray.

Anyway, his little tip is to cook it for about 40 minutes, remove from the oven for 30 minutes to rest, and then return to the oven to brown and cook the rest of the way through. Apparently (according to him anyway!), letting it rest allows the whole thing to somehow be a little more solid, and easier to serve, instead of just having a plop of meat, cheese and pasta on your plate.

Yummo!!!

*Me and my technical terminology! My mum taught me to cook with dashes, bits, pinches, pffts, plops and blobs...