Visit any Italian restaurant and you can pretty much guarantee that there will be lasagne on the menu. There are so many different lasagne recipes out there but this is the one that I use. It tastes and looks great, is pretty straight forward to make….. what else matters!

Serves 4

• Olive oil
• 1 large onion
• 1 large carrot
• 2 cloves garlic
• dried oregano
• 500g minced beef
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bay leaf
• splash of red wine
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 50ml milk
• Salt and pepper
• 1 quantity of Basic White Sauce
• 60g Cheddar cheese
• 30g Parmesan cheese
• Dried lasagne sheets

1. Start by pre-heating your oven to 200°C
2. Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a hot pan. Chop the onion, grate the carrot and crush the garlic then add all to the pan and fry gently
3. Add a bay leaf, pinch of oregano, dash of Worcestershire sauce and season with salt and pepper.
4. When the onion starts to soften, add the mince and cook until the mince is nearly browned
5. Add the tomato purée and red wine and cook off the alcohol for about a minute then add the chopped tomatoes and leave to simmer for about two minutes.
6. To finish add the milk and then turn the heat off and start preparing the white sauce
7. For the sauce prepare a quantity of white sauce as per this recipe
8. When your sauce is at the correct consistency add the cheddar cheese and stir until the cheese has all melted.
9. Find yourself an oven proof dish (The one I use is about 2 inches deep and 9 x 9 inches)
10. Spoon half of the meat mixture into your baking dish and spread so that it is level. Then take your lasagne sheets and arrange them so that all of the meat is covered without the sheets overlapping, you will probably have to break the sheets to get the sizes you require.
11. Now pour half of your cheesy sauce over the pasta sheets and using the back of a spoon spread the sauce so that all the pasta is covered.
12. Repeat the last two steps so that you have another layer of meat, pasta and cheesy sauce.
13. To finish grate the Parmesan cheese and sprinkle over the cheesy sauce and then sprinkle some oregano and season with salt and pepper.
14. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until the cheese starts to turn golden brown.
15. Cut into portions and serve with a side like garlic bread or salad.

Enjoy!