Make-Ahead Beef Lasagna

No Boil Lasagne,Batch Make

Aug 1, 2009 Melody Mundawarara

Most people like lasagna. This dish can be a batch make, a portion of which is frozen for later use.

Lasagna is easy to prepare with no boil lasagne sheets. The technique involved is simple. The casserole is assembled using uncooked noodles, sauce and filling ingredients, then covered and baked. During that time, the steam created by the sauce and other ingredients cooks the noodles.

The variety of fillings is almost endless, as long as the correct proportions of sauce and noodles are used.

Beef Lasagna Recipe

Ingredients (enough for three dishes):

Meat Sauce:

• 750 g lean beef mince
• 250 ml beef stock
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil
• 1 1/2 x 410 g tins of peeled and chopped tomatoes
• 2 x 75 g cans tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 grated carrots
• Handful fresh herbs of choice, roughly torn

White Sauce:

• 300 g salted butter or margarine
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 9 cups milk

Pasta:

• 3 x 500 g boxes lasagne pasta sheet (preferably the no boil type)

For assembly:

• 900 g Mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 6 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

Meat Sauce

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, brown beef mince, onion and garlic in the cooking oil; drain any fat.
2. Pour in the beef stock. Reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes.
3. Add the carrot, oregano, diced tomatoes and tomato paste, and simmer for 25 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Just before you finish cooking, add the herbs and salt.
5. Divide the mixture into three portions.

White Sauce

1. Gently melt the butter or margarine in a pot on a low heat.
2. Slowly add the flour, mixing everything well until the mixture gets a porridge-like consistency.
3. Add the milk slowly, whisking it all the while to avoid lumps. Keep adding milk until the mixture becomes a thick sauce.
4. Use a third of the sauce for each lasagna assembled.

Assembly

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
2. In a lasagne dish, spoon a bit of white sauce in the bottom, layer pasta sheets over it and then cover with a layer of meat sauce. It is recommended that a nonreactive dish such as made of glass, ceramic or enamel-coated iron as acids in the tomato sauce could react with aluminium cookware.
3. Cover with a layer of white sauce, then a layer of cheese slices. Repeat until all the sauce and pasta is finished - with pasta and a layer of mozzarella as the final layers. Make sure the edges of the final layer are completely covered with sauce so they do not dry out during cooking.
4. If you arrange each layer of pasta opposite to the last one it will help to hold the lasagna together better when you slice it.
5. Sprinkle additional Parmesan cheese over the top.
6. Repeat the assembling procedure for two more lasagne dishes.
7. Bake, covered tightly with foil, in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until a sharp knife slips easily through all layers of noodles. Uncover and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes, until the cheese on top is lightly. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

To freeze:

• Double wrap baked lasagna in foil and freeze. Thaw in refrigerator and bake at 180 degrees Celsius until heated through.

The copyright of the article Make-Ahead Beef Lasagna in Recipes is owned by Melody Mundawarara. Permission to republish Make-Ahead Beef Lasagna in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Beef Lasagna