Family Recipes / 19 September 2019

Classic Lasagne from The Silver Spoon for Children

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of its first publication we are sharing a crowd-pleasing meal for four from the classic family Italian cookbook, The Silver Spoon for Children

By Bonita Turner

Lasagne is made up of layers of pasta, béchamel sauce and a meat-based sauce (called ragù in Italian). The lasagne that Italian children eat may be slightly different from what you might be used to – they expect a slice of lasagne to stand up on the plate and hold its shape. This recipe shows you how to make lasagne the Italian way.

The Silver Spoon for Children, New Edition £17.95 (Phaidon)

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 15 mins
Cooking time: 1 hr 30 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients
For the ragu

  • 1 carrot
  • 1 onion
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 350g good-quality minced beef
  • 100ml water
  • 500g passata
  • rosemary sprig, sage leaf or bay leaf (optional)
  • quantity béchamel sauce either homemade or, pre-made
  • 40g Parmesan cheese
  • about 12 sheets lasagne pasta

Method

Step 1

Turn the oven on to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4.

To make the ragù, start by finely chopping the carrot and onion and crush the garlic with a garlic crusher.

Step 2

Put the oil, carrot, onion and garlic in a pan, and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes until really soft, stirring every now and then.

Step 3

Push the vegetables to the side of the pan and add the beef, making sure it covers the base of the pan. Leave it to cook until it has turned brown (3–4 minutes). Stir everything together and cook for another 3–4 minutes. Stir every now and then to cook the meat and the vegetables evenly.

Step 4

Add the water and the passata and simmer gently (the mixture will be just very gently bubbling) for 30 minutes. You can also add a sprig of fresh rosemary or a sage or bay leaf to the ragù for extra flavour if you like. Make the béchamel sauce if you haven’t already (or use your pre-made), and grate the Parmesan cheese.

Step 5

You will need an ovenproof dish about 25 cm × 20 cm big. Spread a little ragù over the base of the dish, then spread a little béchamel sauce over the top. Each layer of sauce should be quite thin, like a layer of jam on toast. Then rest a layer of pasta sheets over the top. Keep layering the ragù, the béchamel sauce and then the pasta sheets.

Step 6

For this size dish, you should have 4 layers of pasta (3 sheets in each layer). Finish the lasagne with a layer of pasta topped with béchamel sauce. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan over the top of the lasagne.

Step 7

oven gloves, put the tray in the oven and bake for 35 minutes until golden and bubbling.

Serve with salad or cooked green vegetables.

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