THE OG LASAGNE

Serves 4 to 6

A LITTLE EFFORT

GREAT VALUE Preparation: 20 minutes Cooking: 50 minutes

olive oil 4T free-range lean beef mince 250 g pork mince 250 g onion 1, finely chopped garlic 3 cloves, crushed thyme 4 sprigs, chopped celery 3 sticks, finely chopped carrots 2, finely chopped tomato paste 4T tomatoes 1 x 400 g can beef stock 1 cup sundried tomatoes 440 g lasagne sheets 150 g butter 2T sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste mozzarella 100 g, grated seasoning and simmer for 10 minutes.

5 To make the cheese sauce, combine the flour and the butter in a medium saucepan and cook until bubbling and slightly caramelised. Add the cream and milk and whisk to combine. Cook until thickened. Remove from the heat and stir in the Parmesan and seasoning.

6 To assemble, layer the ingredients in an ovenproof dish starting with a layer of mince, then the cheese sauce, then the lasagne sheets. Make the top layer quite messy with exposed pasta to guarantee crispy pieces. Cover with mozzarella and bake for 15–20 minutes. HEALTH-CONSCIOUS

WINE: Woolworths La Motte Grand Rouge 2018

When layering your lasagne, start with a thin layer of sauce so that the lasagne sheets don’t stick to the dish. Then add the lasagne sheets, cheese sauce and mince, and repeat in this order.

Add all of the cheese! Top with grated Parmesan and mozzarella.

When making a meat sauce, use half beef and half pork mince. This creates a richer flavour – use chopped bacon if you can’t find pork mince.

Add an egg or two to ricotta, this helps bind it.

Ideally you should have four layers of pasta in the lasagne.

Soak the lasagne sheets in hot water for five minutes before using, this improves their texture.

Make a double batch of meat sauce and freeze half of it to use another time.

Making the lasagne the day before and chilling it overnight improves the flavour, plus makes dinner-time easier.