Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world : Beef lasagne

This week with our recipes from around the world, Terence and I went to Italy. This beef lasagne is delicious but requires a little co-ordination. If you leave the pasta sitting it will stick together so you need to be ready with the mince and white sauces and quick.

My mom said she finds it easier to cook alone. Of course, it would be easier for me to cook on my own too, but it wouldn’t be nearly as much fun. I enjoy cooking with Terence and Michael even if they do use every pot and pan in my kitchen, as well as every bowl, can’t measure anything accurately on their own (Michael), and put flour and chopped up vegetables on the floor.

The original recipe is available on-line here: https://taste.co.za/recipes/perfect-beef-lasagne/. The recipe I used with my changes is below.

Ingredients

Bolognaise sauce

45 ml olive oil

2 large carrots grated

2 medium onions grated

1 Tbsp garlic flakes

60 ml red wine

1 tsp thyme

1 kg beef mince

100 grams brown bread soaked in water

560 grams diced tomato (tinned)

240 grams tomato puree

1 Tbsp tomato paste

125 ml beef stock

Salt and pepper to taste

1 Tbsn balsamic vinegar

200 grams Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Paprika

White sauce

150 grams butter

150 grams cake flour

1 L milk

Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Bolognaise sauce

Gently fry onion, carrot, and garlic in olive oil. Add minced meat and brown. Add red wine, salt, pepper, and thyme. Squeeze water out of the bread and add to the mince. Cook for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree, diced tomato, and tomato paste. Simmer for 30 minutes.

White sauce

Melt the butter on a low heat in a saucepan. Once melted, slowly add flour and make a thick paste. Slowly add milk stirring continuously so that lumps don’t form. Add salt and pepper. Keep stirring until the mixture thickens. remove from heat and stir for a short while to prevent lumps.

Combining

Cook 400 grams of lasagne sheets in a pot of boiling water with a little olive oil and salt for 5 minutes.

Drain the pasta.

In a large prepared baking dish, layer half the cooked mince, half of the pasta sheets, half the white sauce and then repeat. Cover the top with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and a sprinkling of paprika.

Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Published by robbiesinspiration

Robbie and Michael Cheadle are co-authors of the Sir Chocolate series of books. We both like to write and bake.

73 thoughts on “Robbie’s Inspiration – Recipes from around the world : Beef lasagne”

  6. My mother was like your mother–she disliked help in the kitchen. But I, like you, enjoy the communal aspect. And my daughters now clean up their messes as well, a bonus of their adulthood. Plus they have become great cooks. (K)

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    1. Hi Kerfe, I feel that cooking together is a good opportunity for Terence and I to do something as a couple. When Michael joins in, that makes me happy as I like to offer him things to do that don’t involve staring at a screen. My mom was different, she was a housewife and didn’t work.

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    1. Hi Jan, Terence and I always cooked together when we first got married. Then my parents moved onto our property and my mom took over a lot of the cooking. Now she is old enough to want to step back a bit so we can cook together again.

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      1. Sometimes when we have the extended family together, it becomes easier to do a kind of potluck buffet of favorite things, usually with a protein of some sort in the middle. But with the lasagne, I can make it gluten- and meat-free, so most everyone can indulge.

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  14. Yum, Robbie. For the Boulenaise, I add celery to the carrot and onion, and pancetta in addition to the meat. Since I don’t eat beef, I use ground turkey. I like the white sauce idea but usually use mozzarella cheese. Will have to try the white sauce idea.

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    1. Hi John, the original recipe did have celery in it but my family don’t like celery so I left it out. There are a few different recipes out there for lasagna, some don’t use a white sauce or cheese but rather a tomato based sauce.

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  18. I like to bake, but I cook that often. In retirement, my wife and I do cook together occasionally. She is a good teacher, but because I’m an analytical person, I operate in exact measurements while she has a much more intuitive sense of what a food needs. I’m sure that makes her a far better cook than me, who always wants a recipe.

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    1. Hi Pete, I think recipe following or non-following can go both ways. You do have to understand the chemistry of cooking or baking if you change the recipe. That is my opinion, anyhow, after witnessing some rather weird cakes and dishes produced by experimenters.

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  23. According to me, Italians are the best cooks worldwide, dear Roberta, therefore it’s always delicious to eat according their recipes! My friends also prepare the dough themselves. I probably wouldn’t have the nerves to cook together with other people, who let everything fall to the floor, but this has, as you say, also negative sides. One can’t laugh so often:):) Many thanks for your encouraging temptation!

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      1. Good morning, Roberta, you are absolutely right and I could also add the Chinese or Japonese! Your cooking experience in Italy must have been something very special:) For us from Ticino, Italy is round the corner and approx. 70’000 come to our region every day to work and many live here. I especialy love the food they prepare at home. Last week one of my friends told me that they (the couple is over 8o) had made about 3oo fresh Raviolis for the whole family:)
        I am of the opinion, that we should speak much more frequently about how to grow and prepare fresh food, because many people are not used anymore! In this sense I thank you very much for your endevour!:)

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      2. HI Martina, your comment about the elderly couple who still cook together is wonderful. I try to avoid buying food that has been prepared in advance as it is full of chemicals, colourants and flavourants. My mother always cooked from scratch. My younger son loves to cook and co-authored my children’s cook books with me. They were his idea.

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  26. That sounds wonderful, Robbie. I’m not a good enough cook to experiment, so recipes are my go-to. I also like cooking alone, like your mom, but I think it’s because I don’t have any cooking confidence. It makes me anxious! Lol. Thanks for the recipe. 🙂

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  27. This sounds delicious, Robbie. My mom used to make lasagna all the time, especially at our cabin in Big Bear, CA when I was young. Her recipe is one I make often during the winter, but it’s used with tomato base sauce. There’s nothing more special though than cooking or baking with our family. And I’ve never heard of carrots in lasagna, only in carrot cake which is my favorite. 🙂 Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Hi Lauren, interestingly, the US lasagna recipes all have tomato based sauces instead of white sauce. White sauces are more European it seems although America was built on European immigrants including Italians. I am sure it brings back good memories for you.

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  29. I love lasagna, and yet don’t make it that often, because as you say, it takes timing and skill (and the more in the kitchen, the harder the timing). 🙂 But I serve it for family every Christmas Eve. We have some vegetarians in the family (and I’m trying to eat less meat) so I make a spinach lasagna. But one of these days I’ll go for your more decadent one!

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  30. Lasagna was one of the first dishes I learned to cook while still in college. Our dorm cooks were Italian and introduced me to many new foods, including lasagna. I also have marinara and mozzarella in my version. Everyone loves it and it reheats very well, tasting even better the next day.

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