Lasagne comes in many different variations. Our version has a béchamel cheese sauce and a tomato sauce with mixed minced meat, carrots and celeriac. Perhaps not traditional but very tasty.
Writing recipes in a language that’s not your own, can be difficult. Especially when the English speaking community can’t decide on the spelling of your dish. Because which is it? Lasagne or lasagna? After a bit of research I figured out that lasagna is the American spelling and lasagne the British one. With lasagne being a Italian dish though, it thought it best to go with their spelling.
In Italian, lasagne is the plural form of lasagna. Lasagna is actually just one sheet of pasta. The dish itself is therefore called lasagne because it’s made with multiple sheets of lasagna. The two words sound very similar when pronounced however, which probably added to the confusion.
With all that out of the way, let’s continue with this recipe.
Lasagne originated in Italy. The first recorded recipe for the dish dates from the Middle ages. Traditional lasagne is made by alternating layers of pasta sheets, béchamel sauce, ragù and Parmesan cheese. Different regions of Italy have their own version of the dish, containing different types of meat, cheese and vegetables. Outside of Italy the variation is even greater and these days, pretty much any dish that is done in layers tends to be called a lasagne. The recipe we made in our tiny Dutch kitchen is also not an Italian original but it does still have a tomato sauce and béchamel.
The filling of our lasagne contains celeriac and carrots. Admittedly not the most glamorous of vegetables. Especially celeriac has a bit of an image problem. It looks knobbly and gnarly and usually has a bits of dirt still trapped between its roots. Its nutty, celery-like flavour, however, works very well in this dish. It also gives the lasagne a bit of bite. So, if you’re not a fan of sloppy lasagne, you should definitely give this recipe a try.
| Prep Time | 50 minutes |
| Cook Time | 30 minutes |
| Servings |
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- 250 g mixed minced meat
- 150 g celeriac
- 150 g carrot
- 150 ml tomato paste
- 150 ml water
- 1 medium onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp basil
- 1 tsp thyme
- pinch dried chilli flakes optional
- 500 ml milk
- 35 g flour
- 30 g butter
- 50 g grated cheese
- nutmeg
- black pepper
- 150 g (dried) lasagne sheets
- 50 g grated cheese
Ingredients
Filling
Cheese sauce
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- Prepare your pasta sheets. If you use dried pasta sheets, I would advise to boil them until soft before using, even if they're "oven ready". In my experience you can otherwise end up with crunchy lasagne.
- If you use fresh pasta, roll the pasta-dough out thinly. Then drop the sheets in boiling water until they float to the top, this will take only a few seconds. Remove them from the water and spread them next to each other on a clean towel.
- For the sauce, start by cooking the minced meat in a little bit of oil. Once the meat is cooked add the sliced onion and garlic. Cook until translucent.
- Cut the celeriac and carrots into small pieces of about 1 cm (1/2 inch). Add them to the pan and cook for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste, basil, thyme and water. Cook for another 2 minutes before removing the sauce from the heat.
- Make a béchamel sauce. Melt the butter on a low heat before adding the flour. Cook this paste, while stirring constantly. Don't let it brown! Continue cooking until the mixture starts to look like wet sand and smells like cookies.
- Little by little add the milk. Stir the sauce until it starts to thicken before adding more milk. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps from forming.
- When all the milk has been added, wait for the sauce to thicken again before adding the grated cheese. Once the cheese has melted into the sauce, season with nutmeg and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat.
- Assemble the lasagne in an oven dish (I used a 25x17cm pyrex dish). Start with a layer of cheese sauce, a layer of pasta sheets and 1/3 of the filling. Repeat this 2 more times. Then finish with a final layer of pasta and the remaining cheese sauce. Top the lasagne with the rest of the grated cheese.
- Cook the lasagne in a pre-heated oven at 200°C (390°F) for 30 minutes.
