Jamie Oliver shares his trademark family lasagne recipe with Sun Online
SUN food columnist and former-Naked Chef Jamie Oliver reveals the secret to his delicious family-size lasagne recipe.
You'll love this super-easy lasagne recipe – the beef, pork and pancetta make the best, rich sauce.
You can even replace the meat with lentils or spinach, for a nice
vegetarian option.
Jamie's trademark family lasagne
SERVES 12
This makes plenty of leftover ragù – transfer half into freezer bags, portioning up as appropriate for your family.
Allow to cool to room temperature, then pop in the freezer. Freeze them flat so that you can reheat them easily.
INGREDIENTS
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
100g higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon
Olive oil
1kg quality minced beef
1kg higher-welfare minced pork
4 carrots
2 onions
4 sticks of celery
2 heaped tbsp tomato purée
4 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
350g dried lasagne sheets
White sauce:
150g mature cheddar cheese
2 medium leeks
2 fresh bay leaves
4 tbsp plain flour
1 litre semi-skimmed milk
1 whole nutmeg, for grating
METHOD
Strip and finely chop the rosemary leaves and bacon. Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large casserole pan on a high heat. Once hot, add the rosemary and bacon and fry for 2 minutes, or until the bacon starts to crisp up, stirring regularly.
Add all the minced meat, using a wooden spoon to break it up. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for at least 10 minutes, or until all the liquid has evaporated, stirring occasionally. Grate the cheddar, then tip into a bowl.
Trim and halve the carrots, put in a food processor and blitz to roughly the same size as the mince. Peel and halve the onions, add them to the carrot and blitz again. Tip into the pan with the mince, then blitz and add the celery. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables start to soften, stirring regularly.
Next, add the tomato purée and plum tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon.
Fill each of the tins with water and tip into the pan. Give everything a good stir and reduce the heat to low. Leave to simmer for around 2 hours, or until thickened and reduced, stirring occasionally.
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For the white sauce, trim, wash and finely slice the leeks, then add to a pan with 2 tbsp of oil and the bay leaves. Stir and season with a tiny pinch of sea salt and black pepper. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 30 minutes, or until sweet and softened, adding splashes of water, if needed. Add the flour and stir well to coat, then gradually add the milk, stirring continuously. Turn the heat up to medium, bring to the boil, then reduce to low and cook for 5 to 10 minutes, or until thickened, stirring regularly.
Put the sauce in the food processor and blitz until smooth. Add half the grated cheese, finely grate over half the nutmeg and mix. Season to taste.
Once the ragù is ready, season, then freeze half. Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F/gas mark 5.
To build your lasagne, spoon a quarter of the ragù into a deep ovenproof dish (roughly 25cm by 30cm) and spread it evenly. Spoon over a quarter of the white sauce, then snap over some lasagne sheets, making sure they cover the sauce in one layer. Repeat this three times, finishing with a layer of white sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake in the oven for 45
minutes or until golden and bubbling.
Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Delicious with a fresh green salad.
TIP: For a complicated recipe like this, leave four hours to prepare and cook.
Recipe © Jamie Oliver