Easy Lasagna

Meat Sauce:

1 tablespoon Wilson’s Rosemary Flavoured Oil
1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot , finely grated
3 brown mushrooms , diced
500 g minced beef
3 tablespoons tomato puree
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 beef stock
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
½ tablespoon light brown sugar
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon black pepper

White Sauce:

4 tablespoons Wilson’s Butter Flavoured Oil
4 tablespoons plain flour
3 cups full fat milk
1 pinch salt and pepper
100 g cheddar cheese, grated
12 sheets of dried lasagna (the type that you don’t need to pre-cook)
1 ¾ cups mixed grated cheese
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh parsley

Method:

Heat the Wilson’s Rosemary Flavoured Oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the onion softens.

Add the garlic and cook for a further minute. Next add the carrot and mushrooms and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.

Add the minced beef and cook for 5-6 minutes, until browned. Stir often, breaking up any large chunks of meat with a spatula. Finally add the tomato puree, oregano, thyme, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock cube, tinned tomatoes, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Stir and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer for 15 -20 minutes until thickened. Preheat your oven to 200C and start on the White Sauce.

White Sauce

In a medium sized saucepan, add the Wilson’s Butter Flavoured Oil and heat slightly on medium heat. Once bubbling slightly, add in the flour and whisk it into the butter.

Keep gently whisking the roux over the heat for one or two minutes to cook the flour. Add in a good splash of milk, turn up the heat and stir with the whisk to incorporate.

Keep adding in the milk a good splash at a time, and whisking until all the milk is used up (this normally takes me about 3 or 4 minutes). Don’t worry if you get a few lumps, keep stirring with the whisk and they will disappear as the sauce thickens.

Keep stirring the sauce with the whisk over the heat until your sauce thickens. Once thickened, add in the salt & pepper and cheddar. Stir together and then turn off the heat.

Lasagna Construction

Grease your lasagna dish with some Wilson’s Rosemary Flavoured Oil. Spoon a couple of tablespoons of the meat sauce into the lasagna dish and flatten it so it covers the base. This is just to ensure the lasagna sheets don’t stick to the bottom of your dish.

Next cover with 4 lasagna sheets and ensure that they don’t overlap. You may need to break up one of the sheets to cover the dish fully. Spoon on a third of the white sauce and spread it around to cover the lasagna sheets and then cover with a third of the remaining meat sauce.

Place a layer of lasagna sheets on top. Followed by a layer of white sauce and meat sauce. Repeat one more time, until all of the sauce and lasagna sheets are used.

Sprinkle the mixed cheese on top.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes until the cheese is golden and the lasagna is bubbling slightly at the edges. Take out of the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before sprinkling with parsley and serving.

Notes: There are 3 things that make or break a Lasagna. The first thing: The flavour of your meat. The second thing: Whether or not your Lasagna sheets are cooked properly. The third thing: The golden cheese on top. Get these 3 things right, and you will have the best Lasagna. We’ve given you the flavour… the other two are up to you.