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I love lasagne. I’ve made if for years but still find new ways to change it up. I like to add a bit of this and a bit of that, whatever I’ve got in the fridge really. I had a few mushrooms so in they went, a nice slosh of rich red wine, somer rosemary, thyme and celery. The list goes on. One of my friends adds butternut squash.

It’s such a comforting dinner and it’s worth making your own white sauce as it’s quicker and easier than you think.

I serve it with a crisp side salad full of onion and vine tomatoes, some garlic bread and a nice glass of full bodied red. Perfect comfort food.

Serves 4

Ingredients

300g fresh lasagne sheets

500g steak mince

1 onion – diced

3 cloves garlic – minced

Handful of sliced mushrooms

200ml beef stock

400g passata

100ml red wine

Stick of celery – thinly sliced

Teaspoon thyme

Teaspoon rosemary

1 tablespoon worcester sauce

Salt and cracked black pepper to season

large glug of olive oil

For the white sauce

50g butter

50g plain flour

300ml milk

100g grated cheese

100g mozzarella – grated

50ml double cream

Half an onion studded with 4-5 cloves

For the topping

100g grated cheddar

100g grated mozzarella

Method

Pre heat your oven to 200c / 180c

Pan fry the onions and celery in a large glug of olive oil for a couple of minutes, add your minced garlic, sliced mushrooms and carry on frying for about 5 minutes.

Now add the mince and stir until the mince is browned.

Add your passata, beef stock, red wine, salt, black pepper, worcester sauce and herbs.

Simmer gently for about 30 minutes or so.

For the white sauce

You can of course buy a white sauce but it so easy to make you may as well make your own.

Melt your butter in a pan and whisk in your flour to make a roux. Slowly add your milk bit by bit whisking all the time.

Add your grated cheese, mozzarella and double cream.

Stir until the sauce starts to thicken. Add your clove studded onion while the white sauce is gently bubbling and thickening. Set aside.

Before assembling the lasagne pre heat oven to 200c / 180c fan

For the lasagne

Add some lasagne sheets to the bottom of your dish. I used three so that will let you decide roughly what size oven proof dish to use. I also used fresh pasta sheets as they are easier to cut to size should you need to.

Now add a layer of mince ( about a 1/3rd of it) and layer on another level of pasta sheets.

Pour on about 1/3rd of the white sauce.

Layer on some more mince and top with another level of pasta sheets.

Add another 1/3rd of the white sauce.

Now add the rest of the mince and another level of pasta sheets.

Pour over the white sauce and sprinkle over the grated cheese for the topping.

Bake in the centre of the oven for 20 minutes.