Recipes

Servings

Ingredients

Cheese

extra virgin olive oil, to grease

250g Parmesan cheese, grated

5ml dried mixed herbs

5ml dried oreganum

180g mozzarella, grated

Ricotta mixture 

500g ricotta cheese

2½ml dried mixed herbs

2½ml dried basil

2½ dried oreganum

Meat sauce

300g onions, diced   

6 – 8 garlic cloves, crushed

15ml tomato paste

15ml extra virgin olive oil

15ml dark brown sugar

5ml dried mixed herbs

5ml dried basil

5ml dried oreganum

5ml salt

2½ml ground black pepper

a pinch of dried red chili flakes

2 cans crushed tomatoes

300g beef mince

300g lamb mince

15 oven-ready lasagne sheets (approx. 300g)

Cheesy lasagne

Method

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 180ºC. Lightly grease a baking dish (30x20cm) and set aside.
2. Mix the cheeses and seasoning together and set aside. I used the Thermomix to chop my cheese: Parmesan and seasoning at 10 sec/speed 10 and then mozzarella at 10 sec/speed 10. I put them in a Tupperware with a lid and shook it all together.

Ricotta mixture

1. Place ricotta cheese, eggs, herbs and 150g of reserved grated cheese mixture into mixing bowl and mix properly. I used the Thermomix at 15 sec/speed 3.5. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.

Meat sauce

1. Place onion, garlic, tomato paste, olive oil, brown sugar, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and chili flakes into a pan and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.
2. Add crushed tomatoes and cook another 10 minutes at medium-low heat.
3. Add mince and cook for another 10 minutes on medium heat, breaking up any clumps of meat. Transfer mixture to a bowl and set aside. The sauce will be a little runny but don’t worry, you need it for the lasagne to cook.
4. Cover base of prepared baking dish with ¼ of the meat sauce. Place lasagne sheets over sauce, making sure there are no gaps but don’t overlap them too much. Top the pasta with ½ of the ricotta mixture, followed by 1/3 of the remaining beef sauce.
5. Place another layer of lasagne sheets over the sauce and top with the rest of the ricotta and ½ of the remaining meat sauce.
6. Place another layer of lasagne sheets over the sauce and top with the last oof the meat sauce. Finish by sprinkling the cheese mixture over the top.
7. Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 35 minutes at 180°C. Remove foil and bake a further 15 minutes, until golden brown and bubbling. Let rest 15 minutes before serving. If cooking from frozen, defrost overnight in the fridge. If I forget to do that and find myself in urgent need of lasagne (hey, it happens!), then I simply put it in the oven at 120°C for 30 minutes prior to cranking the heat up to 180°C and baking it as usual.