Lasagna with Love

(serves 6)

Despite lasagna being one of the staples of an italian menu, i'm not sure why i've never tried making it... until i found out this is my man's all-time favourite food! So, in an attempt to do something nice, i set out on making this from scratch.. with love! 

It was actually a bit harder than i thought and quite time-consuming, though this may be because i tried to make the lasagna sheets from scratch too ~ rather ambitious but something so therapeutic about making fresh pasta! 

So, the recipe i used didn't quite work out as well as i would've liked, more in terms of proportions than anything else, but i've adjusted it so the recipe below should be right! Will have to give it another go soon!

Prep time: 2.5hrs (i think maybe only 1.5hrs without making fresh pasta?)

Cooking time: 40-45min

Ingredients:
700g beef mince
300g pork sausages
1/2 brown onion
2 cloves garlic
1 carrot
2 cans whole tomatoes
5 sprigs fresh oregano or 3 tsp dried oregano
1 cinnamon stick
2 cloves
10 mushrooms, thinly sliced
100g mozzarella, shredded
100-150g parmesan (or another strong cheese), roughly grated

Béchamel sauce:
70g butter
50-60g flour
700mL milk
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried nutmeg
salt and pepper

Pasta (optional):
300g '00' flour
3 eggs
OR 250-300g fresh lasagne sheets

Method: 
Pasta

1. Put the flour on a clean surface and create a well in the middle. Put the eggs in the middle and slowly combine with a fork until it becomes a soft, runny dough. Slowly bring in the rest of the flour with your hands until well-combined. 
2. Knead for 3-5 min until the dough is soft and bounces back on touch.
3. Cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel and let it rest for 30min.
4. After it has rested, knead it again briefly and tear into 3 pieces. Roll it out with a pasta maker.
NB. It's important to roll it out through the incremental stages (up to Stage 6 on the Atlas Pasta set); flour and fold into thirds before putting it through the next stage.

5. Once you've rolled into long strips, cut into 10-15cm strips (depending on your tray). Let it rest for an hour or 2 to let it harden before cooking.
NB. You don't want the strips to be too long otherwise it'll be hard to cook and take out without breaking!

Meat sauce:
(Can be prepared whilst waiting for the pasta to rest)
6. Finely dice the garlic, onion and the carrot.
7. Remove the skin from the sausages and mince it up.
8. Heat the pan on medium heat and sauté the garlic, bay leaves, onion, carrots and sausage mince.
9. When the sausage mince is just cooked, add in the beef mince and continue to stir with a wooden spoon until it starts to brown.
10. Add in the whole tomatoes, oregano, cinnamon stick and cloves. 

11. Bring to the boil, then let simmer for 45min until the sauce thickens.

Béchamel Sauce:
12. Heat a medium-sized saucepan on low heat. Melt the butter in and add a few tablespoons of flour, whisking vigorously to incorporate.
13. Slowly add small portions of flour and milk, whisking continuously to avoid lumps until it's all added.
14. Continue to cook for 5-10min until sauce starts to thicken, add nutmeg, salt, pepper and herbs to taste.

Combining it all together:

15. Prepare a large pot of salted boiling water. Cook the pasta a few sheets at a time, remove and let it rest on a damp tea towel.
16. Line a deep roasting tray / casserole dish with baking paper. Place 1/4 of the mince and 1/4 of the béchamel and mix to combine. Sprinkle mozzarella and parmesan on top. Layer the lasagne sheets on top.
17. Layer mince, finely sliced mushrooms (optional), béchamel, cheese and lasagne sheets on top. Repeat again.
18. The top layer should consist of mince, béchamel and a sprinkle of parmesan.
19. Bake for 40-45min.
20. Cut into 6 portions and serve with salad!