Classic Lasagne Recipe

A side aspect of a plate with a slice of lasagne on, with the rest of the dish in the background.

5 from 14 votes

Homemade is always best when it comes to this classic Lasagne recipe. It’s rich, delicious and so comforting - the ultimate treat for your loved ones.

Prep Time45

Cook Time30

Ragu Cooking Time1 30

Total Time3

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Sarah Rossi

Ingredients

For the meat sauce:

2 tbsp Olive oil
100 g Pancetta The thinly sliced type
500 g Beef mince (ground beef) 5% fat
1 Onion Finely chopped | See notes
4 Garlic cloves Peeled and crushed
1 Large carrot Finely diced
1 Celery stick Finely diced
1 Beef stock cube
1/2 tsp Dried rosemary
1/2 tsp Dried thyme
1/2 tsp Dried oregano
1/2 tsp Sea salt
3 Bay leaves
150 ml Red wine
400 g Tinned chopped tomatoes Plus 1/2 tin of water
2 tbsp Tomato purée (tomato paste in USA/CAN)
1 tsp Sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Freshly ground black pepper

For the white (béchamel) sauce:

50 g Butter
50 g Plain flour (all-purpose flour)
600 ml Whole milk
60 g Grated parmesan
1/2 tsp Ground nutmeg

For the lasagne:

300 g Fresh lasagne sheets 10-12 | See notes
200 g Grated mozzarella
60 g Grated parmesan

Metric - Imperial

Instructions

Make the ragu:

Fry the pancetta first: Heat 1 tbsp of oil in large pan. Very thinly slice the pancetta. Add it to the pan and fry over a medium heat for 5 minutes until it's starting to colour and brown.
Brown the mince: Add the mince and cook for a further 5-10 minutes, breaking up as it cooks, until it's browned all over.
Set them aside now: Remove the mince and pancetta into a bowl and set aside.
Time to cook the veggies: Put the remaining oil in the pan and add onions and garlic. Cook for 5 mins until they're starting to soften.
Add the remaining veg and cook for a further 5-10 minutes until it's starting to soften.
Everything in together: Add the mince and pancetta back to the pan. Add the stock cube, dried herbs, salt, bay leaves and stir well. Add the wine, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, sugar, Worcestershire sauce and plenty of pepper.
Long simmer: Bring to a simmer, pop a lid slightly ajar on the pan and cook for 1hr-1.5 hours over a medium-low heat until thick and rich. Leave to cool a little.

Make the white sauce:

Butter and flour first: Melt the butter in a pan over a medium heat then stir in the plain flour. Cook this for a minute, stirring the whole time.
Gradually add milk until thick: Add in the milk, little by little, and whisk to make a nice smooth sauce. When you have added all the milk, whisk constantly for around 5 minutes until the sauce has thickened and coats the back of a spoon.
Cheese, nutmeg and season: Stir in the parmesan and nutmeg and some salt and pepper then set to one side.

Layer the lasagne:

Preheat the oven: 180℃/350F fan, 200℃/390F, Gas Mark 6.
First layer: Spread a thin layer of the ragu in the base of your baking dish (roughly 20x30cm), then cover with lasagne sheets. Top with 1/3 of the remaining ragu, a 1/3 of the bechamel, then 1/3 of the grated mozzarella.
Repeat these layers again: Lasagne sheets, ragu, bechamel, mozzarella.
For the last layer: Do ragu, lasagne sheets, bechamel, then mozzarella, then sprinkle the parmesan over the top.

Cook:

Cook in the oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is golden and bubbling, then remove from the oven and leave to sit for 15 minutes before slicing. This will make slicing the lasagne so much easier and it will stay very hot!

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Notes

Base vegetables and pancetta: You could speed the prep up a little by using pre-diced pancetta and 350g frozen soffritto mix. This might be called ‘vegetable base mix’ or something similar in some supermarkets. If you are using frozen, make sure you give a little more time to browning it and cook until all the water has evaporated.

Grated mozzarella: This is not the same as mozzarella balls, which are much more liquidy! This type has a lovely creamy flavour and cheesy pull, but is a bit drier to won’t make the dish go soggy.

Lasagne sheets: If you would prefer to use dried lasagne sheets, make sure that the ragu is saucy enough. If your sauce has gaps in the pan when you stir it, it may need a little more stock to soak into the dried pasta.

Leave to stand: Leave the Lasagne to sit for 15 minutes after it comes out of the oven, before slicing. It will make serving it so much easier. It will also keep its nice layers instead of melting everywhere, and don’t worry - it will still stay very hot!

Nutrition