Lasagne

Name: Lasagne
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 rashers thick-cut bacon, chopped; 1 yellow onion, finely chopped; 1 celery stalk, finely diced; 1 medium carrot, finely diced; 2 cloves garlic, minced; 500 g ground beef; 1 tbsp tomato puree; 800 g canned chopped tomatoes; 1 tbsp honey; 12 sheets (about 250g) lasagne sheets; 400 ml creme fraiche; 125 g fresh mozzarella, torn; 50 g parmesan, finely grated; 1 small handful fresh basil leaves

From the kitchen of Carly

Italian-American Sunday dinner with a shortcut: creme fraiche stands in for the slow-simmered bechamel, so you skip a whole step without losing the creamy top. Slow ragu, mozzarella melt, parmesan crust. Feeds six and reheats beautifully. Build it the night before, refrigerate, and bake from cold. Add 15 minutes to the bake time. Tastes even better.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 1 hr
Total: 1 hr 25 min
Servings: 6
Difficulty: medium

Ingredients

6 servings

1 tbspolive oil
2 rashersthick-cut bacon, chopped
1yellow onion, finely chopped
1celery stalk, finely diced
1 mediumcarrot, finely diced
2 clovesgarlic, minced
500 gground beef
1 tbsptomato puree
800 gcanned chopped tomatoes
1 tbsphoney
12 sheets (about 250g)lasagne sheets
400 mlcreme fraiche
125 gfresh mozzarella, torn
50 gparmesan, finely grated
1 small handfulfresh basil leaves (optional)

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Snip or chop the bacon into small pieces and cook until just starting to color, 3 minutes.
Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook 5 minutes, stirring, until softened.
Add the garlic and cook 1 minute. Tip in the ground beef. Break it apart with a wooden spoon and cook 6 to 8 minutes until evenly browned.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook 1 minute to deepen the color.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Half-fill the can with water and add that too. Stir in the honey and a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
Simmer gently, partially covered, for 25 minutes. The sauce should thicken to a spoon-coats consistency.
While the sauce simmers, heat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
Whisk the creme fraiche with 2 tbsp water in a small bowl to make a pourable cream.
Assemble: spoon a thin layer of ragu across the bottom of a deep baking dish. Lay 3 sheets of lasagne to cover (overlap as needed). Add a third of the remaining ragu. Repeat lasagne, ragu, lasagne, ragu, ending with a layer of pasta on top.
Pour the creme fraiche evenly over the top sheets. Scatter the torn mozzarella, then sprinkle the parmesan.
Bake 25 to 30 minutes until golden and bubbling at the edges.
Rest 10 minutes before slicing. Scatter with basil if you have it.

Substitutions

creme fraiche to full-fat sour cream or a quick bechamel. Sour cream is the easy swap; bechamel (4 tbsp butter, 4 tbsp flour, 2 cups milk) is the traditional move.
ground beef to half beef, half Italian sausage. Adds fennel and pepper notes. Or use all sausage for a punchier ragu.
lasagne sheets to no-boil lasagne sheets. Skip the pre-cook; add 1/2 cup extra water to the sauce so the noodles hydrate as they bake.

Pairs well with: Caesar salad or a simple arugula salad with lemon, A warm crusty loaf for soaking up any leftover sauce, Chianti, Barbera, or any medium-bodied Italian red

Adapted from TheMealDB.