The classic Italian dish made with layers of pasta, bolognese and béchamel sauce makes a hearty supper for chilly winter evenings - immensely satisfying to make.
225g (8oz) lasagne sheets, no pre-cooking required
50g (2oz) Parmesan cheese
Directions
Step 1
First make the bolognese sauce. Heat the oil in a large sauté pan, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook for 7-8min or until soft. Add the mushrooms and fry for 1min.
Step 2
Add the beef and cook, stirring, over a high heat until browned. Stir in the wine, stock, tomatoes, tomato purée and oregano. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, cover, then turn the heat down low and simmer gently for 1hr until the meat is tender and the sauce is well reduced. Check the seasoning and stir in the parsley.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark 4. Next, make the béchamel sauce: pour the milk into a small pan and add the onion, peppercorns and bay leaf. Bring almost to the boil, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 10min. Strain, reserving the infused milk but discarding the onion, peppercorns and bay leaf.
Step 4
Melt the butter in a pan and add the flour. Cook, stirring, for 2min until the flour mix is bubbling but not coloured. Remove from the heat and gradually pour in the reserved milk, stirring constantly. Return to the heat and cook, stirring, until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Stir in the nutmeg.
Step 5
Spoon a third of the bolognese sauce into the base of a greased 2.3 litre (4 pint) oven-proof dish. Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, then a layer of béchamel sauce. Repeat the layers twice, finishing with a layer of béchamel sauce to cover the top completely. Grate the Parmesan over.
Step 6
Bake for 45min until golden and bubbling. Serve with a salad of mixed leaves, cucumber, avocado and finely sliced spring onion.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
