- Packet of lasagne sheets - use the sort which do not need pre-cooking for ease.
Meat Ragu
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, crushed or finely chopped
- 1 lb steak mince (MUCH better tasting than regular mince)
- ¾ lb mushrooms, chopped
- 3 sticks celery, finely chopped (optional)
- 2 14 oz (400g) tins tomatoes (if not chopped, break up in casserole)
- salt and pepper
- 2 tsps 'herbes de Provence' or mixed herbs
- 2 tsps sugar
- 1 good quality chicken stock cube (Kallo Organic is very good)
Cheese Sauce (details here!)
- 1oz / 30 g non-dairy spread
- 2 level tbsps plain flour
- 3 rounded tsps mustard powder
- 16 floz / 430 ml oat milk
- 4 floz / 110 ml Soya Dream
- a little freshly grated nutmeg
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 95 g / 4 oz finely grated Cheezly
- 2 heaped tbsps Parmazano
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The ragu needs to be prepared first.
- Peel and finely chop the onions. Put a large flameproof casserole (Le Creuset ware is superb for this:
expensive but worth it) on a medium heat until hot, add the oil, add the onions, turn down the heat and
fry gently for about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic and herbs. Cook for a further 10 minutes on a low heat until the
onions are soft and golden.
- Add the steak mince, stirring it through the onion mix in the casserole. Turn the
heat up to medium and cook until none of the mince is pink (about 5-6 minutes).
You will need to stir fairly frequently to prevent burning. The big advantage of
steak mince, apart from the flavour, is that usually very little fat comes off it, so
you don't have to drain it. Should you use ordinary mince you'll need to drain off the
excess fat: it can be easier in that case to cook the mince separately and drain it before
adding to the onion mixture.
- Add the tomatoes and break them up if necessary. Stir through evenly.
- Add the mushrooms and celery (if desired). Stir again.
- Add sugar, salt and pepper.
- Crumble the chicken stock cube into the ragu and stir.
- Turn the heat down and simmer the sauce for about half an hour to allow the
flavour to develop.
When the ragu has been simmering for about twenty minutes, turn the oven on
to Gas Mark 4 / 180°C / 350°F. Now prepare the cheese sauce according to our
recipe.
Now that you have your component parts it is time to assemble the finished dish. You
will need a deep ovenproof dish: either pyrex or ceramic will do. It is much easier to
put together if you have a rectangular dish, but it is possible to fiddle around and get it
into an oval one without too much hassle.
- Put a layer of ragu into the bottom of the dish.
- Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets. You will probably need to snap some
of the sheets to fit the dish.
- Place a layer of cheese sauce on top.
- Repeat the layers until you have filled the dish, ending with a cheese sauce layer.
- Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes then turn the oven up to Gas Mark 6 for 10
minutes to brown the top.
This lasagne is really good served with a mixed green salad, dressed with olive oil and
a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
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