We had Spaghetti Bolognese on Monday and I made enough so that I could make Lasagne last night!!  Bolognese is my all-time favourite dish, ever since I was a kid I couldn’t get enough of it. Even though I love most foods this comforting dish is just the BEST!!!

This Lasagne is full of flavour and textures, it has my rich and tasty Bolognese in;

My Best Bolognese

I then add crispy bacon, mozzarella cheese sauce, extra mozzarella and red cheddar on top.  It’s nice to use the red cheese for colour and taste.

I lay the pasta sheets out so it holds the layers inside like a pie, that way it can be cut up easier and also the edges become crunchy and crispy whilst the inside oozes with cheese and sauce.

I also made a lactose free portion for my Aunt see the recipe below:

Lactose free Lasagne

Serves 4

Prep time 10-15 minutes

Cooking time 40-45 minutes

Ingredients:

Bolognese (If using leftovers, you can fill it out with more tomatoes and a little stock.)

https://lululemonandlace.com/recipes/pasta-risotto-and-gnocchi/my-best-bolognese/

500ml Milk

50g Butter

65g  Plain Flour

Fresh nutmeg just a grating

Lasagne pasta sheets x 1 box (you can use fresh, I like the crinkle edged sheets)

75g Red Cheddar grated

100g Mozzarella grated

8 rashers smoky bacon

Method:

Have everything grated and prepared and measured.

Cook the bacon, you can fry this but I prefer to grill it.  Cook until crispy then place onto kitchen paper to remove the extra oils then crumble into a bowl and set aside.

Heat oven to 200 degrees.

If using leftovers reheat the Bolognese on low, adding any extra tomatoes or liquids.  I added some fresh grated tomatoes and a little water.

Take the pasta sheets and lay into a wide dish or deep baking tray in singles. Pour over boiling water, try to keep the layers separate as they stick to each other. Leave in the water for around 2/3 minutes or until they become flexible.  Set aside

To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, once melted stir in the flour and cook for a few minutes stirring as you go.  Then whisk in the milk a little at a time, I usually make a roux with a little milk whisk to make it smooth then pour in the extra milk.

Keep the heat on med-high and keep whisking, the sauce should start to thicken.  Once it is like a double cream add halve of the mozzarella cheese, black pepper and the nutmeg.  Turn the heat off as you do not want this to be too thick.  Set aside.

Time to layer up!

Grease the oven dish you are using well so the pasta does not stick.  Then lay the sheet over the bottom they can slightly overlap.  Then place the sheets around the sides, you can cut these if you need to.

Now spoon in the Bolognese, just enough to cover the base, the pour over a layer of the cheese sauce

Then sprinkle over some bacon.

Carry on for 2 more layers starting with the pasta sheets. It might take you 1 more layer depending on the amount of sauce you have and the size of your dish.  But what you want is to get close to the top of the dish, leaving about 0.5cm.

The top layer is just the pasta then the cheese sauce, any extra bacon you have left and the grated leftover cheeses.  Season with cracked black pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.  I also rubbed a little butter on the top edges of the pasta sheets that were not touching the sauce, you do not want these to burn.

Place in the oven for 40-45 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbling and the edges are browned.

Don’t make the mistake of cutting into this straight away, wait another 20 minutes before even thinking about cutting into it, otherwise you will have a load of slop on your plate.

Enjoy xxx

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