Take an ovenproof dish measuring approximately 30 cm x 22 cm. Take a 500 gm box of uncooked lasagne sheets and measure out how many you'll need to make around 3 layers of lasagne - I just place the raw sheets at the bottom of the dish and multiply by 3, adding a few extra incase of breakages. Cook the lasagne sheets according to the instructions on the box, remove from the boiling water, drain briefly on a clean kitchen towel and then place your first layer of lasagne on the base of the dish (I use tongs for this part - especially if the sheets are still warm).Next, have about 500 gm's of cooked Bolognese style sauce ready. (You can find my recipe for this over here.) I make mine with beef mince, and lots of tomatoes and freeze it in individual packets which come in handy for recipes like this one. Split this into 3, spreading one third of it over the lasagne sheets like this ......
Now make some Bechamel Sauce (you can make it before you even start assembling the lasagne, to save time). Here's a recipe which I always use for this -:Bechamel Sauce (taken from the book “Cook and Enjoy It” by S.J.A. de Villiers)
400 ml Milk
1 Bay Leaf
2 sprigs Parsley
1 medium Carrot
2 slices Onion
2 pce’s Celery
8 black Peppercorns
60 ml (4 tbsp) Butter
60 ml (4 tbsp) Flour
2 ml (½ tsp) Salt
pinch Pepper
60 ml (4 tbsp) Cheddar Cheese, grated
Pour the milk into a pot & add the bay leaf, parsley, carrot, onion, celery and peppercorns. Heat gently and simmer for around 12 -15 minutes until all the flavours have infused. Drain the milk and set aside.
Slowly melt the butter in a separate saucepan & gradually stir in the flour, mixed with the salt and pepper. Blend until smooth. Add the milk – a little at a time – stirring constantly until thick and smooth. Boil for 2 minutes before removing from the heat and stirring the grated cheese in, until melted.
Split the Bechamel Sauce into 3, and pour/spread one third of it over the Bolognese layer like this ......
Now repeat the entire process twice .... top the Bechamel Sauce with lasagne sheets, bolognese, more Bechamel .... lasagne sheets, bolognese, more Bechamel and finally sprinkle about 1 cup of grated Cheddar cheese over the top.
Place the lasagne - uncovered - in the oven at 190'C/375'F/Gas Mark 5 and bake for approximately 45 minutes. The cheese topping should be nicely melted, bubbly and browned ........
Serve with a large bowl of salad (try my 'Kilimanjaro Salad' over here), crusty garlic rolls (my recipe for those are over here) and a good bottle of red - from a favourite South African wine estate !
