Delicious beef lasagne made with homemade, wholewheat pasta sheets, slow-cooked beef sauce and aromatic white sauce, served with mozzarella salad. I use port or red wine to simmer the beef sauce for 90 minutes to give a really deep flavour.
Make beef lasagne in stages. First make beef sauce. Then make white sauce. Next, make dough and roll out pasta sheets. Finally, layer and bake.
Notes on beef sauce
I use beef mince with 15% fat which I find is a very good amount for this lasagne dish.
Move the onions around because you don’t want it to burn. We’re not looking for caramelisation, we just want the onions to become translucent.
If you’re using fresh tomatoes, you need about two kilos. You have to boil them and remove the skin. Use tomatoes that aren’t very sour, that’s why I like the Italian ones.
Initially, move the beef around quickly because you want fat, not water, to come out. At the end of the the slow simmer process, you need a little bit of liquid because that’s what’s going to cook the pasta sheets. At the same time, you don’t want the lasagne to be watery.
Notes on white sauce
There’s two parts to making the white sauce. The first part is where you boil the milk with the flavor ingredients. Next, cook flour in the butter and then add the warm milk into this mixture. Keep stirring until it forms a thick white sauce.
Make sure the milk doesn’t burn at the bottom. Let the spoon go all the way to the bottom where you can feel it if it burns. I use full fat milk, so you stir it to prevent the fat from separating. Watch out for curdling milk which can happen if it’s in contact with anything sour. Be at hand while the milk is coming to the boil as it can overflow quickly.
Reserve the onion mixture to blend into the milk. This thickens it, reducing the need for extra flour.
Cook the flour in butter till you get a nutty smell. When you add the milk you need to keep whisking to prevent lumps forming. While simmering, stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming.
Notes on pasta sheets
When you make pasta sheets, you don’t salt the dough, you salt the fluid. In our case the beef mince mixture will flavor the pasta sheets. You don’t want to over-knead the dough, we’re not looking to release gluten and make it elastic.
The thickness of the sheet should be about a millimeter. When held against the light it should be transluscent and flutter when you blow on it. Make sure you do not over dust the work area. You don’t want your pasta to taste of raw flour or worse, boiled flour.
Beef Lasagne with Mozarella Salad
Description
Delicious beef lasagne made with homemade, wholewheat pasta sheets, slow-cooked beef sauce and aromatic white sauce, served with mozzarella salad. The beef sauce is simmered 90 minutes in red wine or port for a rich, deep flavour.
To make this dish:
Beef sauce
White sauce
Wholewheat pasta sheets
For layering
Mozzarella salad
Instructions
Make beef sauce
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Assemble your ingredients.
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Add olive oil to a large pot. Add onions and fry until translucent.
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Add garlic and fry for a couple of minutes.
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Turn the heat down, add mixed herbs and saute for a minute
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Add minced beef and fry quickly on a high heat to release the fat.
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Fry until beef turns grey.
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After the beef has turned grey, add chopped tomatoes and cook for a few minutes.
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Next, add chilly flakes, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes on a medium flame.
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Add red wine or port and stir in well. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
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After 20 minutes, uncover, give it a good stir, add chopped basil and simmer for aother 20 minutes.
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Stir again, check for salt and continue to simmer until most of the water reduces and you get a thick, dark sauce. Total cooking and simmering time is 90 minutes.
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Add fresh basil, remove from the flame and set aside too cool.
Make white sauce
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While the beef is simmering we can make white sauce. Assemble all the ingredients.
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Add milk to a large pot. The pot should be large enough to accommodate the rising milk. Add onion, garlic, bayleaf, salt, pepper, nutmeg to the milk.
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Stir periodically. Bring to the boil, ensuring the fat doesn't split, the bottom doesn't burn, and the milk doesn't overflow.
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Simmer for 5-6 minutes.
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Strain the milk into a large bowl.
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Reserve half the strained material after discarding the bay leaves.
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Blend the strained material into the milk to get a smooth and slightly thicker milk mixture. Set aside.
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Melt butter in a large pot.
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Add flour to the butter and whisk on medium heat until you get a nutty smell.
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Add the warm milk mixture to the flour, 2 ladles full at a time, whisking constantly to ensure a creamy texture. Turn the heat down.
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Repeat until all the milk is combined with the flour mix and you have a smooth, creamy mixture.
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Simmer until reduced to half the volume and the sauce is a medium thick consistency.
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Pour out and set aside. Tt will thicken further on cooling.
Make pasta sheets
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Assemble your ingredients
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Combine the flours on a work surface and make a well in the middle.
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Add eggs one at a time and combine with the flour.
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Add water in small quantities until the dough comes together quite rough.
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Gently combine the dough with a pressing motion. Avoid kneading too much or the dough will become elastic.
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After about 5 minutes, you should get a smooth dough.
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Cover and let it rest at room temperature.
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The dough should weigh about 615 gm. Divide into 6 parts of roughly 100gm each. Roll out to the length and half the width of your baking dish.
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You can adjust the division of dough to less or more than 100 gm depending on your dish size.
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The sheets should be not more than 1 millimetre thickness. Tt should flutter when you blow on it. Held against the light it should be translucent.
Layer and bake
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There are 3 sets of layers. Each set has 4 further layers. To start, divide beef mixture into 3 portions. Divide white sauce and both cheeses into 4 portions. Use about 2 sheets of pasta per layer. Take you glass baking dish, cover the bottom with 1/3 beef mixture.
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Next ladle white sauce, to thinly cover the beef layer.
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Now grate both cheese portions over the white sauce.
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Finally add the pasta sheet in a single layer. If your sheet has many parts, overlap the joints. Leave the edges to rise slightly on the edges. This will prevent the next layers from dripping down.
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Repeat the process 2 more times. Beef, white sauce, cheeses, pasta sheets.
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This is the final layer. While you are assembling this layer, preheat the oven to 180 C.
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Add the last quarter of white sauce and 2 cheeses on top of the final layer of pasta sheet. Garnish with fresh torn basil.Â
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Your lasagne should look like this from the side. Bake in the oven for 30-40 minutes.Â
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It should be bubbling hot with a crisp top. Set aside to cool for about 45 minutes.
Make salad
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While the lasagne is baking chop the salad ingredients. Combine olive oil, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar and toss the salad in it. Set aside to chill.
To serve
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After the lasagne has cooled. Slice it into six parts. Place on a plate with all the layers.
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Add a generous serving of mozzarella salad and enjoy with a glass of red wine!
