Lasagne with Ricotta

Ingredients

· 1 x 500g packet of lasagne sheets

· 1 kg meat (you can use 500g pork & 500g beef or just 1kg beef)

· 1 onion finely chopped

· 1 whole bulb of garlic finely chopped

· 100g tomato paste

· 1/2 cup red wine or 1/2 cup beef stock mixed with 1/2 tsp red wine vinegar

· 4 bay leaves

· 1 parmesan rind

· 200g grated parmesan

· 375g fresh mozzarella (about 50 -100g grated mozzarella is optional too for the top of the lasagne)

· 900g ricotta

· 2-3 tsp garlic powder

· 2-3 tsp mixed herbs

· 2 tsp sugar

· 2 handfuls of basil

· Handful of parsley

· 2 eggs

· 800g San Marzano tomatoes (if not whole peeled plum tomatoes are fine but I strongly recommend you try and get your hands on san Marzano)

· 800g finely crushed tomatoes

· Olive oil

· Directions:

· - Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of your pan

· - Add the onion and fry till soft

· - Add the garlic and fry for about 1 minute

· - Add tomato paste and fry for about 3-5 minutes. You want the tomato paste to go a nice dark red

· - Add meat and fry till everything is combined and browned

· - Add wine/ beef stock and cook for about a minute or two

· - Season with 1tsp of garlic & 1tsp mixed

· - Crush the san Marzano tomatoes with your hands and add to the meat

· - Add the finely crushed tomatoes

· - Fill all 4 cans with water and add to the meat (keep the cans you may need to add water as you cook)

· - Bring to a boil

· - Add the parmesan rind, bay leaves, another tsp of garlic & mixed herbs and 1 tsp of sugar

· In the last 40 minutes of cooking try the sauce and see if you need more seasoning or sugar you could also add chilli flakes.

· - Bring down to a simmer and cover the pot leaving a little bit uncovered, cook on low for 2-3 hours.

· - The secret to this lasagne is a really saucy meat sauce so more tomato than meat (check video for desired consistency) you may need to add more water as you cook

· - Check the video for the desired consistency

· 20 minutes before you sauce is ready add a handful of basil to the sauce

· - Mix the ricotta with 2 eggs, a handful of parsley, a handful of basil, a small handful of parmesan & salt & pepper to taste.

· - Place in the fridge till you’re ready to use

· - Cut your mozzarella into slices

· - Boil a large pot of water and add salt & a bit of olive oil

· - In a separate dish add some water with ice and set some parchment paper to one side.

· - Add 4-5 sheets of lasagne at a time to the boiling water and cook for about 5 minutes. You want to constantly stir the sheets and make sure they’re not sticking.

· - After the 5 minutes remove the sheets and add them to the ice water to stop the cooking process

· Place the sheets of lasagne on the parchment paper & repeat the process

· Now to assemble your lasagne, the amount you add to each layer is completely upto you and how you like your lasagne. I love mine saucy so I’m generous when adding the meat sauce and ricotta. You may like your lasagne on the drier side so you may want to add less, however take into consideration that ricotta is drier than bechamel sauce that you would normally use in lasagne so you may want to load up on the sauce too!

· Preheat your oven to gas mark 4/350F/180C or 160 fan

· Lightly oil your baking dish with your hands, including the corners and sides

· To assemble add a layer of meat sauce to the bottom of the dish I used a 9x13 inch dish.

· Add 6 lasagne sheets, feel free to overlap them or if you don’t want to overlap feel free to cut them as you need them

· Spread 1/3 of of your ricotta mixture onto the sheets, a 1/3 of your mozzarella, a thick layer of meat sauce and then 1/3 of your parmesan

· Repeat this twice more until you get to the top layer where you will lasagne, meat sauce, grated or sliced mozzarella and parmesan

· Lightly oil some foil and cover the lasagne

· Add to the oven and cook for about 45 minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered.

· Let it rest for 20-3o minutes before eating!

· Serve and enjoy!