Lasagna

Method

For the bolognese:

• Soak porcini in ⅔ cup of boiling water, covered, for at least 10 minutes. Strain porcini (reserving liquid) and chop
• In a food processor, process celery stick, carrot and onion until very finely chopped. If you don’t have a food processor, just finely chop the vegetables by hand.
• Melt butter in a large pan over medium. Add chopped vegetable mix and porcini, and season. Sauté until softened and beginning to golden.
• Add tomato paste and cook, stirring, until the colour darkens.
• Turn the heat up to high, season the mince and add to the pan. Cook, stirring often to break up the mince, until browned (around 5 mins).
• Add the wine and simmer until reduced by two thirds.
• Add the herbs, tomatoes, reserved porcini liquid (be sure not to pour in any of the soily grit that sinks to the bottom) and bring to a simmer.
• Reduce the heat to low, place lid on slightly ajar (so some steam can escape) and cook for 1½ hours. If you want to cook it for longer than this to tenderise the meat even more, I would put the lid on at the 1½ hour mark to ensure no more liquid evaporates.
• Taste and season, then set aside.

For the béchamel:

• When the ragu is almost ready, make the béchamel.
• In a saucepan, melt butter over medium.
• Whisk in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until beginning to go golden (like Caramilk golden). It will smell toasty and biscuity.
• Bit by bit, whisk in the milk over medium heat. Continue to whisk until sauce is smooth and noticeably thickened (10-15 mins), then turn off the heat.
• Whisk in Parmesan bit by bit, stir through nutmeg and season to taste.
• Cover with a lid (to prevent a skin forming) and set aside, ready to assemble the lasagne.

For the lasagne:

• Preheat oven to 180°c fan forced.
• Rub oil on the base of a large oven dish (approx than 25x40cm).
• Layer in the following order:
  • Lasagne sheets
  • Bolognese
  • Béchamel
• Repeat until all the pasta and ragu has been used. Make sure the pasta sheets are fully submerged in sauce for perfectly cooked pasta sheets.
• Top the final layer of pasta with béchamel, then sprinkle over a generous amount of Parmesan.
• Cover with foil and bake for 50 minutes, until pasta is cooked through and lasagne is bubbling at the sides. If the baking dish is quite full and you think it might bubble over, put a foil lined tray underneath it in the oven to catch any drippings.
• To finish, remove the foil and change the oven to the grill setting on high heat.
• Grill for 5-10 minutes, until the top is your perfect level of golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool for at least 10 mins before serving.