“This is remarkably easy [to make],” Mary Berry said of her lasagne recipe, which can be made on the day or ahead of time.
“If you are eating soon after making, say in two hours’ time, pre-soak the lasagne sheets in hand hot water for about 10 minutes before layering,” said Mary Berry.
“This softens the pasta,” she explained. “If you are making it 12 hours ahead you could use no-cook dry lasagne.”
Mary Berry’s lasagne works well with a fresh salad if you so fancy adding more to the dish.
Serving six people, here’s how to create the delicious Bolognaise and creme fraiche sauce that makes the lasagne so great.
Lasagne recipe
Ingredients
Bolognaise sauce
1 tablespoon oil
500g lean raw minced beef
One large onion, roughly chopped
Two cloves garlic, crushed
Two level tablespoons flour
Two x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
Three tablespoons tomato puree
One teaspoon sugar
Pasta
Six to eight sheets fresh lasagne
Creme fraiche sauce
Two tablespoons cornflour
One tablespoon Dijon mustard
One x 500g tub low fat crème fraiche
100g fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
Method
Preheat oven. Butter an oblong casserole dish (about 23cm x 30cm, and about 6cm deep).
Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan and brown mince all over. Add onion and garlic, sprinkle in the flour and stir.
Stir in tomatoes, tomato purée and sugar, then season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about an hour or until tender.
To make the crème fraiche sauce
Meanwhile, measure the cornflour into a saucepan, add mustard and two tablespoons of crème fraiche, then whisk until smooth.
Add the remaining crème fraiche and season. Bring to the boil whisking by hand until slightly thickens.
Layering the lasagne
Spoon a third of the meat mixture into the base of the casserole dish, then spoon a third of the crème fraiche sauce to cover the bottom layer. Sprinkle with Parmesan.
Arrange a single layer of four sheets of pasta without overlapping. Repeat using two more layers each of the mince sauce and crème fraiche sauce, and one of the pasta.
The final layer is mince and crème fraiche sauce. Sprinkle the remaining parmesan on top.
Cook in a preheated oven 220C/200 Fan/Gas seven for about 25 to 35 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the pasta is tender.
