Easy Family Lasagne

For the bolognese…

• 6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, roughly chopped
• 800g high welfare beef mince 
• 1 carrot, grated
• 2 celery, finely chopped
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped
• 175ml red wine 
• 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced 
• 2 bay leaves 
• 1 x 280g jar sundried tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
• 2 tins plum tomatoes 
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 

For the bechamel…

• 50g butter 
• 2 heaped tbsp plain flour
• between 700ml and 1 litre whole milk

And not forgetting…

• 400g lasagne Sheets 
• 200g cheddar cheese 
• salt & pepper, to season 

METHOD 

Preheat one of the main ovens of your Leisure Cuisinemaster to 180°C. 

Pop a large frying pan onto the centre of your Leisure hob and turn the temperature to medium-high (4-5). Pour in 1 tablespoon of olive oil. 

Add your bacon to the pan and fry until it turns beautifully golden. Push into a pile at the side of the pan once cooked. 

Lay your beef mince into the pan and cook for 5 minutes until the pan side is golden. Flip it like a steak and colour the reverse. Once your mince has browned on each side, break it up into large chunks using a wooden spoon and ensure any raw spots are cooked. 

Decant your beef and bacon with a slotted spoon into a bowl and set aside, reserving as much of the fats and juice in the pan as possible. 

Drop the hob heat down to medium (3-4) and add your carrot, celery, onion and rosemary to the pan with a generous pinch of salt – this will help to draw out moisture and soften your veggies rather than fry. 

Once soft, turn the heat back up (4-5) and add your wine, garlic and bay leaves and cook for 5-7 minutes until the wine has reduced by over half. Finish with sun-dried tomatoes, plum tomatoes and Worcestershire sauce and season generously (especially with pepper!). 

Return your beef and bacon to the pan and reduce the temperature to a low-medium (2-3), so it lightly simmers, cover with a lid and leave to blip away whilst you make your bechamel sauce. 

Grab a deep saucepan and pop it onto a low-medium hob (2-3). Add your butter and allow it to melt before adding your flour. Using a wooden spoon, mix together the flour and butter until it forms a rough ball and allow it to cook on heat for 3-4 minutes. By cooking out the flour, you won’t be left with a gritty, doughy bechamel. 

Little by little add your milk to the pan, stirring until smooth between each addition. At first, the sauce will feel extremely thick but will loosen into a lovely, double cream consistency.

Now it’s assembly time! Begin with a layer of bolognese, topped with a single layer of lasagne pasta sheets. Spread a generous ladle of bechamel over the top with a sprinkling of cheese and season with salt and pepper. Repeat these steps until you have used up all of your ingredients, being sure to finish with a layer of pasta, bechamel and cheddar. 

Pop your lasagne into your preheated oven at 180°C and set the timer for 40 minutes. Once your timer beeps, move the lasagne to the grill and colour the top for a final 5 minutes. 

Serve with garlic bread and salad and see the family light up when you place this on the table.