Beef Lasagna

Last night, Mr. B suddenly asked for Lasagna as the menu for dinner. I made one few weeks ago, but I wasn't satisfied with how it turn out. So when he asked, I took it as a way to redeem my self. The basic recipe I used was the same recipe as the first one, but now I added confidence as the main ingredients and some changes that I feel fit.

Basic Ingredients:

• Lasagna Pasta 250 gr.

Red Sauce Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil,
• 1 clove garlic - chopped,
• 1 onion - diced,
• 500 g minced meat,
• 1 carrot - diced
• 1 can of crushed tomatoes (400g) - I use a hand-blender it so the big tomato chucks got crushed and turned to soft tomato sauce,
• 3 tablespoons of tomato puree,
• 4-5 tablespoons of tomato sauce,
• 1 teaspoon oregano,
• 1 teaspoon basil,
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tsp sugar,
• 1 teaspoon pepper

White Sauce (Béchamel Sauce) Ingredients:

• 50g butter,
• 3 tablespoons flour,
• 500 ml milk,
• 125 grams of cheddar cheese that has been grated,
• 1/4 tablespoon pepper. 

Topping Ingredients: 

• 150 g grated mozzarella cheese,
• 1 teaspoon oregano, 
• 1 teaspoon basil 

Methods: 
Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
First we make a red sauce (bolognese sauce):
Heat oil in a pan, then add the garlic. Saute garlic until fragrant
Then continue with the onions. Saute until onions are wilted and then enter the minced meat.
Put the carrots in and mixed it all together.
Season it with the oregano, basil, pepper and salt.
Pour the crushed tomato, mixed it well.
Add tomato sauce. Taste until you satisfied. Then add the tomato puree.
Taste everything and when it's done put it aside and let it cool.

Then it's time to make the white/Béchamel sauce:
 Heat the butter into the saucepan.
Once it melted, pour the flour and stir until blend through.
When it was mixed, pour the milk. Add the pepper.
Finally add the cheddar cheese into the batter, and continue to stir it until thickened.
Taste it and when you done, let it cool down.

Time to organize both sauces and the lasagna into the baking dish. Begin the bottom layer with few lasagna plates. Then followed with the red sauce, next white sauce and then layer it with lasagna again. Make sure to finish the surface with the white sauce on top. Sparkle the mozzarella cheese - covering everything, add oregano and basil. Baked the lasagna for around 30 minutes.

Result:

Practice makes perfect... This time around I know what I need to do and in the end I really satisfied with the result. On my first try, I didn't use the tomato sauce and just relied on the crushed tomatoes. So it ended up tasted a bit sour. But now, because of the tomato sauce (I used Heinz tomato sauce), it had a nice sweetness in it. I also add some carrots to add some textures and flavor.

About the lasagna plates, last time I boiled it first but then it got stuck together. So now I just let it be as it is, because I read that lasagna plates now days are already pre-cook. So you don't need to boil it anymore. I don't know if it's true or not. But as far as I saw it yesterday, when it finished the lasagna was soft and cooked through.

Difficulty Level... 7/10.. It took a lot of effort. 2 different sauces and then need to layer and bake it quite a handful. But for me, the stuff you need to really pay attention to are the sauces. Just make sure it taste good then I think you are aiming for a success..