Lasagne al forno

A good lasagne, made well is an absolute classic and guaranteed to please. It's rich so serve it with a clean, crisp rocket salad.

Recipe (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Meat ragu (see previous post)
• Pack lasagne sheets
• Pint milk
• 2 tbsp butter
• 4 tbsp plain flour
• 50g grated cheddar
• Generous handful grated parmesan
• 1 bay leaf
• Pinch nutmeg

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180c
2. Melt the butter in a non stick pan and add the flour and a little of the milk to form a paste, stirring constantly
3. Add the rest of the milk and the bay leaf  and continue to stir until you have a smooth thick sauce. Let it bubble for a few minutes to cook out the flour (If it's lumpy use a hand blender toblitz the lumps!)
4. Add the nutmeg, some seasoning and the cheddar, stir through to melt the cheese
5. Lightly oil a shallow oven proof dish and line with a layer of lasagne sheets, cover with a layer of ragu, a little of the sauce then repeat until the dish is full.  The top layer should be pasta sheets covered with w generous quantity of the sauce.
6. Sprinkle on the parmesan and bake for approx 40 minutes until golden and bubbling
7. Let it rest for 5 minutes and enjoy with a nice chianti

Rich meat ragu

This is a rich meaty treat. Perfect on it's own stirred through cooked pasta or as a base for a really good lasagne. It's worth making a large batch and freezing it ready to use for a quick dinner with friends. I use a mixture of meats for a good depth of flavour but you can use all beef if you prefer.

Recipe (serves 6 as a pasta sauce or 4 in a lasagne)

Ingredients:

• 500g minced beef
• 250g minced veal
• 250g minced pork
• 100g cubed pancetta
• 4 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• a few good handful mixed fresh herbs, bay, rosemary, thyme, sage, parsley
• 1 bottle red wine
• 500g pasata
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 4 tbsp milk
• Good glug olive oil

Method:

1. In a very large heavy based pan gently fry the onion, garlic and carrot for 5 minutes until soft
2. Remove from the pan, turn up the heat and cook the pancetta until really crisp
3. Remove the pancetta and add the minced beef. Spread it across the pan and then leave it for a few minutes without stirring to get a good brown crust on it.
4. Turn and repeat then remove and do the same with the minced pork and veal.
5. Return all the ingredients to the pan then add the bottle of red wine, the herbs, (chopped except the bay) 
6. Let it bubble swiftly for a few minutes to burn off the alcohol then add the pasata. Fill the empty pasata carton with water and add that and the sugar and milk.
7. Turn down the heat and gently simmer for an hour, stirring occasionally until the liquid has reduced right down and the meat is very tender.

Serve as it is for the best spaghetti bolognese or for the following lasagne recipe.

The ULTIMATE bacon sandwich

Probably the best bacon sandwich in the world. Crisp dry cured back and streaky bacon sandwiched between two layers of bacon flecked sour dough bread and served with a spicy Bloody Mary ketchup. This should consign the chewy pink bacon in cotton wool bread to the pages of history.

You've been surviving on breakfast cereal all week so this is your weekend reward. Enjoy it with the Sunday papers and a strong coffee.

You will need one sour dough loaf. This easy to make but you will need to invest a little time during the week to prepare it.

I found this recipe online and it makes a superb loaf with a good chewy crust and a great flavour:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/xanthe-clay/8360013/Laura-Harts-sourdough-bread-recipe.html
It make look daunting but it just requires a few simple tasks and some patience.

(Simply fold in five rashers of finely chopped crisp streaky bacon in the final stage of kneading)

If you don't want to make your own, just buy a decent crusty loaf from the shop but you'll be missing a treat.

Recipe


Ingredients:


• pack of good dry cured back bacon
• pack of good dry cured streaky bacon
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
• 1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp vodka

          Method:

1. Fry 2 rashers of back and two rashers of streaky bacon per person until crisp and golden
2. Mix together the ketchup, Tabasco, worcestershire sauce and vodka
3. Remove the bacon from the pan and gently fry 2 slices of the bread in the bacon juices for a minute or two on one side only
4. Place dry side down on a place., load with the bacon and a dollop of sauce then top with the second slice of bread, juice side down.

Grab the paper, get comfy and get ready for the ULTIMATE bacon sandwich!