Lasagne – Delicious in every mouthful, easy to make beef lasagne

I was in a dilemma about making a distinction between Lasagna and Lasagne, because both words seem to be competing with each other in every recipe book that I referred to.  My quest finally came to an end,  when I came across a clear description as well as a grammatical correction, given in Wikipedia.  Lasagna is an Italian name for a flat, wide pasta sheet so that Lasange means a lot of sheets piled up together that go right with the dish, as multiple sheets of lasagna are used in this dish.  So, it is Lasagne, after all!

This cheesy, meaty and juicy lasagne is a real winner when it comes to feed a crowd.  Just one-pot dish with meat, an assortment of veggies, layers of pasta  topped with lots of  cheese, could be the most satisfying meal for your own family or guests.

Rather than making the sauce from scratch, I opted for my favourite Loyds Grossman pasta sauce as it fulfils all the needs of a juicy sauce that enhances the flavours to satisfy everyone’s taste buds.

So, precisely this is not  the traditional way of making lasagne, but, it is rather a quick fix, but insanely delicious.

I usually make the pasta-filling, the day before so that it tastes even better, in addition to the  whole process becoming much more easier.   Also, make a list of ingredients and buy everything from a supermarket and keep ready, in order not to run to the shops in the midst of making it.

So, let’s start.

Gather all these necessary ingredients:

Napolina Lasagna sheets	1 packet
Dolmio lasagna creamy white sauce	1 bottle
Loyd Grossman tomato and chili pasta sauce	1 bottle
Good quality minced lean beef	500 g
Onion	1 large
Carrots	2 large
Green beans	a handful
Baby spinach	3 handfuls
Garlic	5 cloves
Fish sauce	1 tbsp
Soy sauce – dark	1 tbsp
Bell peppers (red, green, yellow)	1 from each colour
Tomato ketch-up and Mayonnaise	2 tbsp each
Parmesan Cheese and Mozzarella cheese grated	1 cup
Salt

First get the lasanga sheets ready:

• Fill a large pan with water and add a drop of oil and a few pinches of salt into it.
• Boil the water rapidly under high flame.
• Arrange lasagna sheets upright around the pan as shown in the picture.

• They will slide down slowly while boiling away.
• Boil them for 10-15 mins until tender and remove gently and arrange on a tray.
• Leave to cool.

Let’s make the meat filling now:

• Into a large wok, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil.
• Fry the chopped onion and garlic.
• Add minced meat.  Brown the meat.
• Now, push the meat onto a side and drop carrots and beans. (Cut carrots into thin rounds and then into quarters.  And beans into small pieces) Stir fry until tender.
• Add three bell peppers cut into squares and stir fry.

• Add soy sauce and fish sauce.
• Add mayonnaise and salt.
• Stir fry under medium flame.  Do not close the lid.
• Now add the Loyd pasta sauce.

• Add a handful of Parmesan cheese or Cheddar cheese.
• Finally add the spinach and stir fry until the sauce is properly cooked and taste juicy.
• Keep to cool.

Now pre – heat the oven to 180 C.

Let’s start the fun part of layering the lasagna sheets.

• Get a wide Pyrex dish or oven proof baking dish and rub butter all over.
• Spread a layer of meat first.
• Then lay lasagna sheets neatly on top to cover the meat.

• Next, pour a layer of  Dolmio white sauce on top of lasagna sheets.
• Another layer of meat goes next.
• A layer of Lasagna sheets on top.
• Again pour a layer of white sauce.
• Keep repeating the same until the layers come to the brim of the dish. The last layer should be meat.
• Now, toss a lot of Parmesan cheese on top the last meat layer.
• Finally, sprinkle Mozzarella cheese liberally on top.
• Now, take a sheet of foil and rub olive oil on one side.
• Cover the dish with the sheet.
• Stick it in the oven and bake for 30-45 mins.
• Take the dish out and check if the lasagne is baked enough.
• Then, remove the foil and stick the dish again into the oven for 10 mins.

(This will melt the cheese into a golden colour)

• Take out and let the dish cool off completely.
• Cut into squares and dip a spatula to the bottom and gently lift the pieces out.
• Serve warm.
• Delicious !