After an extended period
away from the keyboard I thought I needed to return with a bang. Although the
translation from plate to paper has not been happening, I can reassure you I have
been eating, and eating well. This year along with many, many great recipes,
reviews and thoughts on food, I promise to bring you bring you a website more
useful than Wikipedia, more innovative than google, more informative than
twitter, and with a greater procrastination potential than Facebook. 2013 will
be forever remembered as the year of ahungryman.co.uk
So to kick off the year one
of my favourites.
Lasagne
Lasagne must be one of the
greatest comfort dishes in the world, and here I have two amazing versions of
this Italian staple. This week I give to you a traditional meat lasagne and
then next week a delicious vegetarian alterative (which can be slightly
meatafied).
Lasagne is simple really –
meat, pasta, cheese, meat, pasta, cheese
Meat
500g Beef mince
1 onion - diced
3 cloves garlic – smashed
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
Half a glass of red wine
A good squirt of tomato
puree
1 Mild red chilli – diced.
Salt and black pepper
Pasta
A box of lasagne sheets
will normally do two lasagnes for four.
Cheese (béchamel sauce)
1 Mug of plain flour
50g of butter
1 mug of milk
A decent amount of grated
cheese (you can make it as cheesy as you like)
Firstly make the meat sauce.
1.
Sweat off
the onions, garlic and chilli in a pan.
2.
Turn up
the heat and sear the mince with a good amount of seasoning.
3.
When the
meat is browned chuck in the wine and cook for 1 minute.
4.
Add
tomato puree and cook for a minute or two, and then the chopped tomatoes.
5.
Allow the
sauce to bubble down for a good 30 minutes to become lovely and rich.
The Cheese sauce.
1.
While the
meat sauce is cooking, you can start melting the butter in a pan.
2.
When it
has melted keep on a low heat and add the flour until a kind of doughy
consistency has formed.
3.
Slowly
add the milk until you have a white sauce.
4.
Add the
grated cheese, and you have the cheese sauce.
The Assembly.
1.
Meat
2.
Pasta
3.
Cheese
(sauce)
4.
Meat
5.
Pasta
6.
Cheese (sauce)
7.
Grated
cheese
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-40 mins. Put a knife in to make sure the pasta is nice and soft.
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees for 30-40 mins. Put a knife in to make sure the pasta is nice and soft.
The final product.