Easy Lasagna with Béchamel Sauce

Meat sauce

1. Finely chop the onions and chop the carrot into small pieces.

2. Put your pan on a medium-high heat and add the minced meat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and let it brown for about 8 to 10 minutes. The fat that comes out of the meat is enough to cook the vegetables in, so there is no need for extra oil.

3. Add the onions and the carrot to the meat and let them cook along for about 5 minutes, until the onions are soft and see-through.

4. Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping the brown bits off the bottom with your wooden spoon, and let it bubble for a few minutes until most of the alcohol has cooked off.

5. Then pour in the chopped tomatoes and the passata, and crumble the stock cube over it. Add the bay leaves, oregano, dried basil, cinnamon, salt and pepper, and the cayenne pepper if you want a little heat.

6. Give it all a good stir, bring it to a gentle boil, then turn the heat down low and let it simmer with the lid half on for about an hour. Stir every now and then, so nothing sticks to the bottom.

7. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed, take out the bay leaves and tear in the fresh basil.

Béchamel

1. While the sauce is simmering, melt the butter in the second pan on a medium heat.

2. Add the flour and stir it with your other wooden spoon for about 5 to 10 minutes, until the flour has browned a bit and smells slightly nutty.

3. Add the milk a splash at a time, and stir after every splash until the sauce is smooth again before adding more. This takes a bit of patience, but it is what keeps the béchamel from going lumpy.

4. Once all the milk is in, keep stirring for a few more minutes until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, then stir in a pinch of nutmeg and a pinch of cinnamon.

Assemble and bake

1. Stir 2 heaping spoonfuls of the béchamel into the meat sauce, then let both sauces cool down a bit.

2. In the mean time, preheat your oven to 180C and grate the cheese.

3. Spread a thin layer of meat sauce over the bottom of your oven dish, then add a layer of lasagna sheets, breaking them to fit where needed.

4. Spoon over a layer of meat sauce, then a layer of béchamel, and sprinkle over a handful of cheese. Repeat until you run out of meat sauce, and finish with a last layer of sheets, the rest of the béchamel and all of the remaining cheese on top.

5. Bake the lasagna in the middle of the oven for about 45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the sauce bubbles at the edges. If the top browns too quickly, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminium foil. If your cheese is not browning enough on the other hand, set your oven to grill mode for a couple of minutes at the end, and keep an eye on the cheese.

6. Let the lasagna rest for at least 20 minutes before cutting into it. This way the layers set and you get a proper slice instead of a puddle on your plate.