Lasagna Better Than Your Mum's

By Andy Cooks · 120 min

Ingredients

Instructions

1. Finely dice the celery, carrot and onion, and finely grate the garlic.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large heavy pan over high heat. Brown the pork and beef mince in batches: add mince, turn heat to medium, cook 8 to 10 minutes without stirring, then break up and brown; set aside.
3. Keep about 1 tablespoon of fat in the pan. Add the carrot, season with salt and cook 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the onion for 2 minutes, then the celery and garlic for another minute.
4. Return the mince to the pan, add the red wine and simmer until it has reduced by 80%.
5. Add 600ml of the passata and the Parmesan rind, bring to a simmer, then cover and cook on low for 2 to 6 hours, stirring now and then and adding water if it gets too thick. Add 100ml milk 30 minutes before the end. Remove the rind and cool the ragù to room temperature.
6. Blanch the spinach in boiling salted water for 20 seconds, drain, plunge into ice water, then drain and squeeze dry. Blend with the eggs until smooth.
7. Mound the flour on a surface, make a well, add the spinach mixture, a pinch of salt and the olive oil. Incorporate the flour with a fork, then knead until smooth and elastic.
8. Wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
9. Roll out one half of the dough into a rectangle about 1 cm thick. Pass it through the pasta machine on the widest setting twice, fold it into an envelope, press to seal, and pass it through twice more on the same setting.
10. Reduce the machine setting one notch at a time, passing the dough twice on each, up to the second-last setting, to get a long, thin sheet.
11. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium-high heat, stir in the flour and reduce to medium. Season with salt and cook 2 minutes until blonde. Gradually whisk in the milk 100 to 150ml at a time, simmer 10 minutes until thickened, then season with salt and stir in the nutmeg.
12. Preheat the oven to 180°C (355°F) fan-forced. In a 23 x 30 cm deep dish, layer meat sauce, pasta, béchamel, mozzarella and Parmesan, repeating to make 5 layers (keeping some mozzarella and Parmesan for the top), finishing with pasta.
13. Spread the reserved passata over the top, cover loosely with foil and bake 35 to 40 minutes.
14. Remove the foil, scatter basil leaves and the reserved cheeses over the top, and bake 10 more minutes. Increase the oven to 200°C (390°F) and bake 5 more minutes until golden.
15. Let the lasagne cool 10 to 15 minutes, then slice and serve.

Summarized from Andy Cooks's video. Watch it for the details.

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GarlicOnionEggCheeseMilkCarrotParmesan cheeseCelery