Chef's Recipes

School Meals Week

8th to 12th November 2021

Beef Lasagna

Garlic Bread, Dressed Shoots, Taverna Salad

A firm staple and favourite of many families and kitchens around the world, this is my not so classical version, inspired by travels in the Med, and my hometown. 

1x large tray / 6 people

Ingredients

750g Beef Steak Mince Lean
2x Onion diced
4x Garlic cloves finely chopped
2x Carrots 1 diced 1 grated
150g Mushrooms finely sliced
1x Celery stick peeled and diced
1x tin Crushed tomatoes
2x Tomatoes roughly chopped
1x tbs Tomato puree
250ml Chicken stock
1x tbs Mixed dried herbs
30g Fresh basil leaves roughly sliced
100g Spinach washed, dried and roughly sliced
½ tsp Ground cloves
½ tsp Garlic powder
250g Unsalted butter
250g Plain flour
1.25l Full fat milk
4x Bay leaves
200g Mixed mozzarella, cheddar cheese
5g Sea salt 
3g White pepper
2g Black pepper ground
1x box Egg lasagna sheets or homemade
30ml Extra virgin olive oil 

Method

• In medium saucepan and oil, brown onions, followed by diced carrots and cook till almost soft.
• Remove from pan, reheat pan with oil, add mince, brown well to start the ragout. 
• Add chopped garlic, 2x bay leaves, garlic powder, mushrooms, herbs, cloves.
• Then deglaze pan with a splash of chicken stock.
• Return onions and carrots, add grated carrots, celery and tomatoes.
• Combine and cook for 5 minutes, then add stock and cook over medium heat for 40 minutes.
• 30 minutes in to the cooking process, add shredded basil and spinach.
• Stir often and as required, ensuring all the flavours are combined and liquid is fully reduced.
• Begin white sauce by melting butter, adding the flour then the warmed milk and bay leaves.
• Cook out over medium heat, stirring regularly to avoid catching on bottom of saucepan. 
• Bring to boiling point, but do not boil, at this stage cook for around 5 minutes.
• Take off heat, carefully stir in grated cheese, keep warm, but do not boil.
• When beef ragout is ready, proceed to construct the layers in the oven tray, alternating with pasta, white sauce and mince. Make at least 3 layers of pasta, starting with pasta and ending with pasta smothered in white sauce. 
• Bake at 150°C in a fan oven for 35 – 40 minutes. 
• Sprinkle with a good measure of grated cheese halfway through the cooking cycle.
• When cooking complete, let the lasagna rest in a warm place for around 5 minutes.
• During this time, you can finish off the salad, dressed shoots and bake garlic bread.
• Recipes for salad and garlic bread as per own preference. 

Buon Appetito!

Useful tips

• With so many flavours introduced to the ragout, do not season heavily during the cooking process. Check at end and adjust accordingly if more salt and pepper is required.
• Same would apply to the white sauce, check after the cheese has been added to ensure it does not overpower the base and whole dish. Check in conjunction with ragout. 
• A fair splash of Tobasco and Worcester sauces at the very end, provides an additional kick and contributes to the depth of flavour. 
• For a more decadent flavour at home, try adding a generous splash of red wine (Rioja) during the cooking process. Enjoying, albeit responsibly, the same wine as used in the recipe, adds favourably to the eating experience.