Fuss-free lasagne

Fuss-free lasagne

Take advantage of the special offers available on mince and batch-cook this sure-fire family winner

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 lasagnes, one to serve 4 and one to serve 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 40 mins

Freezable

Method

  1. Make the meat sauce: heat the oil in a large saucepan and gently cook the onions for 10 mins until golden. Add the garlic, herbs and bay, then cook 2 mins more. Heat a large frying pan. Crumble in a quarter of the beef, cook until brown, then add to the onions. Continue to fry the beef in batches and add to the onions until all the meat is used up. Tip the tomatoes and ketchup in with the onions and beef. Rinse the cans out with the red wine, if you have some, or with a little water, then add to the pan. Season and bring to a simmer. Gently cook for 30 mins until thick and saucy, then set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, make the white sauce. Tip everything into a pan, season, then bring to a simmer, whisking continuously. Don't worry if it's lumpy - if you whisk enough the sauce will come together. Simmer for 5 mins, whisking, until smooth and thickened, then remove from the heat. If not using straight away, cover with cling film and set aside.
  3. Make sure you divide everything up so that you can make two lasagnes. Place a thin layer of meat sauce in an ovenproof baking dish, drizzle with a little white sauce and scatter with a little mozzarella. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, then top with more of both sauces, more mozzarella and more lasagne sheets. Repeat once more, then cover the top layer of lasagne in just white sauce. Finally scatter over some Parmesan. The lasagnes can now be chilled in the fridge for a day ready to be cooked, or frozen for up to 3 months - see tips, below.
  4. To cook, heat oven to 200C/180C fan/ gas 6. Cook for 35-40 mins until brown on the top and crisp around the edges. Leave to settle for 10 mins before cutting into squares and serving with a green salad and some garlic bread, if you like.
Try

Freezing tips: freezing whole lasagne

Simply cover the lasagne tightly with cling film and freeze sitting flat with nothing resting on top of it. For best results, allow to defrost for a day in the fridge, then cook as stated. Or, to cook from frozen, heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3. Remove the cling film, cover with foil and cook for 2 hrs. Remove the foil, increase the heat to 200C/180C fan/gas 6, then cook for 40 mins more until brown and crisp around the edges.

Freezing tips: sauce

You can make just the meat sauce and freeze it in bags. This versatile sauce can be used for Spaghetti Bolognese, as a base for Shepherd's pie or as a topping for baked potatoes.

Adding more veg

1. When you fry the onions, add finely chopped carrot, celery, courgette, leek, sliced mushroom or chopped pepper. 2. Wilt some fresh spinach, squeeze out the water well with your hands, chop it, then scatter though the layers of sauce. 3. Scatter cherry tomatoes throughout the lasagne as you assemble.

Per serving

847 kcalories, protein 43.0g, carbohydrate 65.0g, fat 48.0 g, saturated fat 25.0g, fibre 5.0g, sugar 17.0g, salt 1.58 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, March 2010.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 1-20

  • Binder photo Sarah

    27 February 2010

    Sarah rated this recipe

    5 stars

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  • Binder photo Mrs_Nunney

    04 March 2010

    Mrs_Nunney rated this recipe

    1 stars

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  • Binder photo chrissie

    09 March 2010

    chrissie rated this recipe

    4 stars

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  • Binder photo fridaygirl

    01 April 2010

    fridaygirl rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Best lasagne recipe I have ever used

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  • Binder photo carrieh2

    25 September 2010

    carrieh2 rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    I did follow this recipe but apart from the mozarella and wine which bumped the price up considerably, it's 'my' recipe. I don't normally use ketchup though and probably wouldn't again, unless it's cheaper than tinned tomatoes. This made 2 lasagnes and one went into the freezer.

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  • Binder photo dea

    26 September 2010

    dea commented on this recipe

    can someone help, im a poor uneducated student. Do you cook the lasagna first and then freeze it, ready to reheat in the oven for later? or do you assemble it and then put it in the freezer, to cook for another day? thanks !

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  • Binder photo mrdcman

    30 September 2010

    mrdcman commented on this recipe

    Dea, In answer to your question, the idea is really to do up to and including Step 3. You then let the ready to bake lasagne cool down and pop it in the freezer. Remember to take from the freezer to the fridge the night before you complete Step 4 so that it's not still frozen inside. Alternatively, you COULD do everything (i.e. including Step 4) and then allow it to cool to room temperature before freezing it. You would then have it handy to be defrosted and simply microwaved if you were wanting something handy for a quick meal. However, I don't believe it is anywhere near as nice after being in the microwave. The oven cooking gives it a lovely warm, comforting texture, whereas reheating it in the microwave will leave it warm, but wet and floppy.

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  • Binder photo jojo

    09 October 2010

    jojo rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Made this for the kids and my partner, they loved it will be doing it again :)

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  • Binder photo kenco

    21 October 2010

    kenco commented on this recipe

    Try doing it with layers of pancakes instead of lasagne its as good if not better as lasagne sometimes sticks together when cooking. You will still have them asking for more. Also try doing this with Chilli, making Chilli pancake rolls and freezing for that late night supper. Once defrosted pop into Microwave for 2 1/2mins.

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  • Binder photo Ali W

    18 November 2010

    Ali W commented on this recipe

    Kenco - could you add your recipe for the chilli pancake rolls cause they sound lovely. Always looking for new ideas for mince. Thanks.

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  • Binder photo Karen

    21 November 2010

    Karen rated this recipe

    2 stars

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  • Binder photo Halima:)

    26 November 2010

    Halima:) commented on this recipe

    This looks amazing!! I would defenetily try to make this. Spelt Definitely wrong.

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  • Binder photo kenco

    29 November 2010

    kenco commented on this recipe

    CHILLI PANCAKES 5lbs Mince Beef 2 Large onions diced 1 Red Pepper seeded and diced 1 Green Pepper seeded and diced 4 cloves Garlic minced 1 level tsp Chilli flakes 2 tbsp Cumin 4 tbsp Lee-en-perins sauce 2 tin Kidney beans 2 Jars large Dolmio sauce or equivilant 1 Tin chopped tomatoes 1 level tbsp Black pepper 2 level tbsp salt to taste 2 cups of water or as needed Cayenne to taste Total cooking time about 60 minutes leave to go cold and then fill the pancakes. Put on a flat tray and freeze. Use as required, just defrost, put in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes. Serve with salad. Also try puree Apple and Sultanas and Cinnamon. Just mix the ingredients together and into pancakes. Freeze the same way and cook the same as the Chilli Serve with Creme fresh.

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  • Binder photo ChristyJade

    07 December 2010

    ChristyJade rated this recipe

    3 stars

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  • Binder photo K311y

    21 December 2010

    K311y rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Delicious, i loved this lasagne but did take i long time to prepare

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  • Binder photo Sue Moysey

    26 January 2011

    Sue Moysey rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    This was delicious. Total GARFIELD when it comes to lasagne. I managed to find individual sized dishes that are exactly the same size as a sheet. so I made 5 which were four layers thick using this receipe. I find it's best if your in a hurry, defrost in microwave for 4-5 mins and then cook in the oven for 20 minutes on Gas 7. They stay moist and look amazing.

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  • Binder photo Menapian

    25 March 2011

    Menapian rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    It never really gets going. First mouthful and you think 'hmm .. ok..' then you say 'where's this going?'. It goes somewhere .. but never arrives.

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  • Binder photo webbje

    29 August 2011

    webbje rated and commented on this recipe

    3 stars

    I loved this recipe and enjoyed cooking it very much. I added 400grams of mushrooms which I baked and left to drain before adding them to the sauce. Personally I would add some extra mozzarella and some chilli pepper (missed the kick). Instead of making 2 separate lasagne's I made 1 really big one (A3 paper size).

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  • Binder photo amyraz

    17 November 2011

    amyraz rated and commented on this recipe

    2 stars

    Definitely not the best lasagne recipe I've ever used. There are others on this website that are much better. The white sauce came to nothing when cooked for me, and it was a bit sloppy.

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  • Binder photo diamond_sky

    05 April 2012

    diamond_sky commented on this recipe

    Really yummy. Used goats cheese instead of parmesan & mozzarella & added half a tsp of dijon mustard to the white sauce.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Makes 2 lasagnes, one to serve 4 and one to serve 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 50 mins

Cook time

Cook 1 hr 40 mins

Freezable

Ingredients

  • 250g mozzarella , drained and grated
  • 18-20 no cook lasagne sheets
  • 85g block Parmesan , grated

FOR THE MEAT SAUCE

  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 onions , finely chopped
  • 8 garlic cloves , crushed
  • 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1kg minced beef
  • 4 x 400g/14oz cans chopped tomatoes
  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • small glass red wine (optional)

FOR THE WHITE SAUCE

  • 200g butter
  • 140g flour
  • 1.7l milk
  • few gratings nutmeg
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Per serving

847 kcalories, protein 43.0g, carbohydrate 65.0g, fat 48.0 g, saturated fat 25.0g, fibre 5.0g, sugar 17.0g, salt 1.58 g

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