(Meat) Lasagna recipe ideas please

worded

Hi,

Has anyone any tasty meant lasagna recipes that dont include using bechamel sauce.

I might post back some ideas I find as an aide de memoir for myself as well

If I may start off with a Three Cheese Recipe I took a cheeky photo of in a mag, Ive yet to try but looks good.
Made a .pdf of the pic if anyone wants to print it off


Thanks,

Dial Hard

Why no bechemel? Do you dislike it or do you just not want to make it? A good cheat's version is an egg beaten into a 500ml tub of natural yoghurt, loosened with a bit of water and with the all-important nutmeg grated in.

worded

Dial Hard wrote: »

Why no bechemel? Do you dislike it or do you just not want to make it? A good cheat's version is an egg beaten into a 500ml tub of natural yoghurt, loosened with a bit of water and with the all-important nutmeg grated in.

Thanks for the yoghurt / nutmeg alt

Béchamel - I tried to make it once and failed ...
Is it that important an ingredient or can it be avoided?

Another idea is to add a layer of cottage cheese instead of it ...

I suppose it’s the cheapest way to do it and perhaps I should face my demon and try to make it again

SteelyDanJalapeno

Ricotta is a great alternative! Don't think I'd personally be putting yoghurt in my lasagna!

refusetolose

worded wrote: »

Thanks for the yoghurt / nutmeg alt

Béchamel - I tried to make it once and failed ...
Is it that important an ingredient or can it be avoided?

Another idea is to add a layer of cottage cheese instead of it ...

I suppose it’s the cheapest way to do it and perhaps I should face my demon and try to make it again

its really easy to make it,just put the heat on low

add cheese to make a cheese sauce and use that in lasagne

s7ryf3925pivug

A layer of cottage cheese in place of bechamel sauce sounds like a great idea if you're force feeding it to people whom you hate - otherwise don't do that.

the beer revolu

No offence to Dial Hard but I tried the yoghurt and egg trick once. I did not try it again.
I would not be inclined to try the cottage cheese, either.
OP, lasagne is a bit of a pain to make, what with having to make 2 sauces and assembly but that's what it takes, in my experience, there are no short cuts.
Bechamel isn't really hard to make. My tips would be to heat the milk before adding and add it off the heat. If you have some lumps, put it through a seive.
Also, you will always need more bechamel than you think.

woodchuck

OP, I think it would be worth taking the time to perfect your bechamel sauce!

As someone else already mentioned, make sure to heat the milk a bit before adding it to the roux. And make sure to add it slowly, keeping the pan on a low heat only (or take it off completely if needs be). I use a wooden spoon to start off with to help get rid of any lumps (just rubbing them between the wooden spoon and the side of the saucepan). Once I've added a fair bit of milk and it's start getting more liquidy, I switch to a whisk (silicone, so that it doesn't damage the pan). Once you've added all the milk, you can turn the heat up a little bit (only low-medium though) and slowly start adding grated cheese and a little nutmeg. Keep the sauce on the heat for a while and it will start to thicken up (make sure to stir it frequently with the whisk though to avoid lumps).

ellejay

I've made this recipe a few times and always a crowd pleaser.

I do the white sauce in the microwave but the last time I posted this hack I seemed to have annoyed a lot of people :)
I don't add in the nutmeg so not really béchamel sauce, but of course you can grate some in.

Important to note, make the ragu sauce the day before you want to assemble it.

anyhoo....

800 grams of lowest fat beef mince you can source ( weight is approx.)
3 x Peppers Chopped.
1 x Onion Chopped.
2 x cloves of garlic minced / chopped.
1 x pack of fresh lasagne sheets.
300g Cheddar Cheese grated.
1 x Tin of Plum Tomatoes chopped. (discard tops of tomatoes if any)
1 x Teaspoon Italian mixed herbs.
Splash of vinegar.
3 x Drops of Worcester sauce.
Pinch of Cayenne Pepper / Chilli Powder.
Salt & Pepper.
Quarter tube of puree.
2 x oxo cube’s (I use kallo)

Oil a Lasagne dish.
(Recipe doesn’t say to do this but I’m afraid it’ll stick so I oil it.)

Fry the mince – put into saucepan.
Fry the veg – put into saucepan
Add all other ingredients and crumble in the Oxo’s.
Simmer for about 40 mins.
Allow to cool, minimum 4 hours, preferably over night.

To assemble in dish:
Sauce, Sheets, Cheese
Sauce, Sheets, Cheese
Minimum two layers, finish with white sauce and sprinkle with Cheese.

Into the oven at about 180 for 45 mins to 1 hour.

White Sauce:
Ingredients
2 heaped tablespoons of butter.
2 heaped tablespoons of plain flour.
1 pint of milk.

Method
Put butter and flour into large bowl and microwave for 10 to 15 seconds or until butter is nearly melted.
Whisk into a rue.
Add in half the milk and microwave for 2 mins.
Whisk well to get rid of lumps.
Add in the other half of the milk and microwave for another 2 mins.
Whisk well to get rid of lumps.
Bobs your uncle perfect white sauce every time…..!

For Chicken flavour, use chicken stock dissolved in small amount of boiling water.
For Hollandaise sauce add mustard.
For Cheese sauce add cheese.

BailMeOut

yes I do!

Replace bechemel with a mixture of ricotta, parmesan, chopped parsley, an egg and salt/pepper and spread on the lasagna sheets with a spoon. Best to briefly cook the sheets for a just a few mins in boiling water and let cook down before doing this. It's messy working getting it the sheets but turned out brilliantly.

igCorcaigh

Bechamel sauce is really easy (and cheaper) to make, as others have said, but it can be bought already made too. Supermarkets or Italian deli.

Tree

BailMeOut wrote: »

yes I do!

Replace bechemel with a mixture of ricotta, parmesan, chopped parsley, an egg and salt/pepper and spread on the lasagna sheets with a spoon. Best to briefly cook the sheets for a just a few mins in boiling water and let cook down before doing this. It's messy working getting it the sheets but turned out brilliantly.

I find soaking the sheets in hot water in the lasange dish while i prepare the rest softens them enough. (same trick for pasta bakes). Much easier to fish slippery sheets out of warm water than boiing.

the beer revolu

I find, with modern, ready to use lasagne, there is no need to pre cook or soak.
I like a pretty wet lasagne. I guess if you make yours on the dryer side, perhaps pre cooking is necessary but I've never done it and have never had under cooked pasta.

woodchuck

I've never soaked my hard pasta sheets, but I usually leave the lasange to "rest" for a bit before putting it in the oven. It might only be about 10 minutes, but I feel it gives the sauces a bit of time to naturally soften the pasta sheets a bit. It's a lot easier than having to pre-soak the sheets anyway!

I also leave the lasange to rest for about 5-10 minutes after I take it out of the oven before serving. I find that little bit of time makes a big difference when cutting it into pieces; it keeps it's structural integrity much better! Still lovely and moist, but not falling all over the place trying to get it out of the dish. And it remains piping hot!

Tree

I find the ready to use sheets aren't soft enough if i don't soak them, but my lasagne is more dry alright. Rather a soggy lasagne sheet than an unexpectedly al dente one.

worded

Tree wrote: »

I find the ready to use sheets aren't soft enough if i don't soak them, but my lasagne is more dry alright. Rather a soggy lasagne sheet than an unexpectedly al dente one.

So you recomend soaking the ready to oven ones anyway. Sounds doo able

Charlie19

I simmer/soften the sheets as the meat sauce is cooking but for the white sauce I take the handy option and buy the jar but I buy carbonara sauce as I think it adds lovely flavour.

ellejay

If you buy the fresh lasagne sheets, not the freeze dried ones, you don't need to soak or precook.

the beer revolu

ellejay wrote: »

If you buy the fresh lasagne sheets, not the freeze dried ones, you don't need to soak or precook.

In my experience, you don't need to do this with any lasagne available today.
I do prefer using the fresh stuff, though. It's nicer and easier to handle.