Keep Cooking and Carry on!
When motivation and spirits are down and when times are dull
or stressful, nothing is more inspiring than food, friends and fun. Similarly
to a good old English cuppa, a nice big meal really solves anything and even
just thinking of the evening in which this luscious lasagne was created (a
couple of months ago now) is cheering me up, reminding me to ‘keep cooking and
carry on’. If the baking industry can take on world war two propaganda then so
can I, and as they say, an army marches on its stomach, and so into battle
against the bad times we must go.
To ease us all back onto the food platter I thought a nice
dollop of Italian would do the trick. This food blog wasn’t necessarily about
sharing recipes, however, the night we all gathered in Petra’s kitchen there was
an ambience of contentment spurned on by a couple of bottles of red wine, good
chats and the promise of a better-late-than-never spring, which really brought
this authentic lasagne to life. It is not that I want to say that this recipe
is the best, just that there aint nothing that can compare to home cooking from
scratch where all you need is to invest a little bit of time and effort.
Delia Smith is starting a campaign on bringing cooking back
into the home and away from easier and readily available food products. She is
additionally trying to tackle the myth that cooking at home with fresh produce
is more expensive than these other options, when actually it is far more economical
to buy, cook and eat fresh. Money issues aside, we need to see the eating table
as a time and place for bringing people together and for enjoying each other’s
company. Whether your dinner table is filled with arguments about politics, drunken
chatter, the top 40 charts or whether to get a pet chinchilla or not, the one
point in common is the food table; sharing it with others is paramount to our
survival as a civilised race.
On this particular Saturday night we took advantage of
having a house with no ‘host parents’ where we could relax in knowing that we
weren’t going to disturb them or the children and could experiment vivaciously dans
la cuisine.
Petra had never made a lasagne before and wanted to give it
a go. Wasting no time we nipped to Albert Heijn for the ingredients and invited
a few people over to enjoy it with us. Hey presto, spontaneous cooking eve
achieved, and a sunny one it was at that.
Making a lasagne can take time because of the chopping, making
the saucy bit, making the cheesy béchamel topping, layering it and then cooking
it in the oven. This does, however, mark out five easy steps to fashioning a
pretty fabulous lasagne. Let’s begin with the ingredients and then go through
the steps.
Ingredients
Bolognaise sauce
400g minced beef
2 large carrots chopped into tiny pieces
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves,chopped
1-2 cans of chopped tomatoes or passata
1-2 tablespoons tomato puree
A handful of fresh basil ripped into random pieces
Salt and pepper for seasoning
Tad of oil for frying if needed
Cheeky dash of red wine if it is about!
Béchamel sauce
I usually just make this a bit spontaneously…. But around
30g butter
4 tablespoons flour
3/4 pint of milk
200g strong grated cheese
Salt and white pepper to taste
Pinch of grated nutmeg
Also… don’t forget the lasagne sheets. Either dried or
fresh, you will need a big box/packet.
Step One: chopping for
the Bolognaise
I would most definitely recommend getting all of
your ingredients chopped and ready for the bolognaise sauce before beginning to
cook it. This simply means that your attention can be given to the food that is
in the pan and prevents you from having a decapitated finger infecting the
onions and garlic on the chopping board.
The onion needs to be finely chopped and the
garlic however you wish. Keep it chunky or thinly sliced (the smaller the piece
the more flavoursome).
I would cut the carrots into thin rings and then
cut those rings into quarters. If you looked at a clock, you would have little
15minute chunks. The carrots will cook more easily like this and adds a little
texture to the dish. Of course, cut em how you like though!
The basil just needs to be torn into random
sized pieces. Nothing too strenuous.
Step two: Making the
Bolognaise Sauce
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Take a large frying pan with high sides or just
a deep pan and start to cook the minced beef on a medium heat. I usually dry
fry the mince first so that the other ingredients can then fry/cook in its fat,
meaning that I don’t have to add any extra oil. Feel free to add any oil if you
think it needs it.
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When the mince is browned, add your onions and
garlic, mixing them in thoroughly.
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After about 5 minutes add the carrots.
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Another 5 minutes later add in your tomato
puree, salt and pepper, can(s) of chopped tomato or passata and cheeky dash of
red wine if you wish. Mix them all in together, bring to the boil and then
simmer for about 20minutes. Quickly throw in the basil when simmering is
underway.
Step Three: Making the cheesy béchamel sauce
This is the creamy white sauce that goes on the
top of the lasagne. I add cheese to mine (technically making it a Mornay sauce
if you wanna be all French about it!), if you are doing it the cheesy way like
me then it is the same as before, be prepared and grate your cheese before
getting started on the sauce.
Take a medium sized pan and melt the butter on a
medium heat. Add in the flour and mix it constantly with a wooden spoon.
When nice and mixed, add in the milk gradually,
bringing the heat up and keeping stirring. 
Making this sauce does take a bit of practice as
you have to feel when the sauce is reaching the correct thickness. Hopefully
your sauce will start to look (and feel when stirring) like a thickish blended
soup. At this point you can take it off the heat add the cheese, salt, pepper and
nutmeg seasoning.
If your
sauce does not reach this thickness after 10 minutes of stirring on a high heat
then add another tablespoon of flour and continue stirring. Keep stirring it
for a further 5 minutes and if there is still no improvement, add another
tablespoon. So on and so on.
If it all goes wrong you can always start again,
no panic. My Dad attempted a béchamel sauce many times in a row once and
completely failed. That night we had toast for tea and we will remember it
forever. Look on the bright side- you have a bolognaise sauce that you can just
eat with pasta ;)
Step Four: the Big Layer up
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Take a casserole dish/lasagne type dish… you all
know what they look like! And put 1/3 of the sauce on the bottom. Cover the
bolognaise layer with lasagne sheets.
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Copy this another 2 times.
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On top of the final layer of lasagne sheets,
pour on the cheese sauce so that the lasagne is covered.
Step Five: Cooking
The wonderful thing about a homemade lasagne is
that you don’t have to oven cook it immediately. You can make it the night
before or in the morning of. In which case, when you are ready to cook it,
preheat the oven to 180 and then cook for 30-40 minutes.
If preparing and cooking the lasagne in the same
innings, turn the oven onto 180 just before you begin making the cheesy béchamel
sauce and then it will be nice and hot in time.
When cooking the lasagne please don’t be so complacent
as to go shopping, natter upstairs with your flatmate or get distracted watching
The Voice, keep an eye on it as all ovens and all lasagnes are different. If the
top begins to burn yet the inside is not cooked enough, simply cover it with
Kitchen foil. 
Mmmmm what a delicious meal it
was. Don’t forget you can be all English about it and have some garlic bread on
the side, or a little bit of cold, crunchy, cucumber infused salad to
complement the hot tomatoey lasagne.
Good home-cooked masterpieces are
back in business. Keep it up guys and when the going gets tough, flee to the
kitchen, rest up, cook up a storm and venture back onto the path with energy,
direction and a happy tummy!
Jo*
