Penny Hoffman’s Delicious Lasagne

Serves 8–10

INGREDIENTS

1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic
1 large tin tomatoes (or 6–8 tomatoes), chopped
500 g finely minced beef
1 tablespoon tomato paste
¼ cup chopped fresh herbs
1 cube chicken or beef stock
80 g butter, chopped
4 tablespoons flour
4 cups milk
¾ cup grated Tasty cheese,
plus ¼ cup extra for topping
good pinch of ground nutmeg
oven-ready lasagne sheets (enough for 2 layers in your dish)
salt & pepper to taste

METHOD

For the meat sauce
1 Fry onion in oil without browning.
2 Add garlic and tomatoes. Cook briskly until pulpy.
3 Stir in meat until browned. Add tomato paste, herbs, stock cube (or liquid stock if you need more moisture) and season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer for as long as possible (at least an hour).

For the cheese sauce
1 Melt butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat until foaming. Add flour. Cook, stirring, for 1 or 2 minutes or until bubbling.
2 Remove from heat. Slowly add milk, whisking constantly until mixture is smooth. Return to heat and continue stirring until sauce comes to the boil, thickens and coats the back of the spoon.
3 Remove from heat and stir in ¾ cup cheese, nutmeg and salt and pepper.

1 Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2 To assemble lasagne: spread a layer of meat sauce over the base of a lasagne baking dish. Place a layer of lasagne sheets over the meat sauce. Cover with half of the remaining meat sauce.
3 Spread with half of the cheese sauce. Place another layer of lasagne sheets, meat sauce and cheese sauce on top. Finish with the extra grated cheese.
4 Bake for 45 minutes or until browned and cooked through.
5 Allow to stand for 5–10 minutes before serving.

Recipe & image from Natalie Oldfield’s fifth cook book, Love & Food at Gran’s Table.