Thursday, April 30, 2009

Comfort Lasagna

I used to cook bolognaise sphagetti in my school years. The recipe taken from my cousin, adopted Indonesian version of bolognaise sauce : tangy, slightly sweet and cheesy. Seeing lasagna sheet on supermarket rack always encourage me to think if someday i will have the time and passion to cook this dish. One day i hook on San Remo Instant Lasagna and read recipe behind the pack. The ingredients quite similar to bolognaise sauce but the most important thing is you can use lasagna sheet without boiling first like usual. I said to myself the recipe worth trying as it sound quite impressive. Few times trying this at home, the recipe never fails. So here’s San Remo version of lasagna with little modification :

Instant Lasagna with Meat Sauce
Serves 5

•250g San Remo Instant Lasagna

Meat Sauce
•3 tablespoon olive/vegetable oil
•1 medium onion, finely chopped
•1 clove garlic, crushed
•500g beef mince
•400 gr canned tomato
•100 ml tomato sauce/ketchup
•4 fresh medium tomato, chopped
•2 cups chicken stock
•2 pack (150 gr) champignon mushroom
•100 gr cheddar cheese, shredded
•Oregano, dried bay leaf, salt, pepper and pinch of nutmeg

Cheese Sauce
•2 tablespoons butter
•2 tablespoons plain flour
•2 cups milk
•Salt, pepper
•125g mozzarella cheese (cubed or grated)

Meat Sauce
Heat oil in a medium saucepan, add garlic and onion until soft cook. Add mince and cook stirring, until brown. Add mushroom and stir in chopped tomato, tomato sauce and tomato paste follow with chicken stock. Put few bay leaf and season with crushed oregano. Season with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and shredded cheese. Cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cheese Sauce
Melt butter in medium saucepan, stir in flour and cook for 2 minutes over gentle heat. Remove from heat and gradually stir in milk. Return to heat and stir until thick and smooth. Season with salt and pepper, add mozzarella and stir over low heat until cheese melts.

Lasagna
Preheat oven to 180ÂșC. Pour 125ml meat sauce into base of lightly greased baking dish. Alternate layers of lasagna, meat and cheese sauces, ending with cheese sauce layer. Sprinkle top with grated parmesan cheese if desired. Bake in oven for 35 - 40 minutes. (Test by pricking with fork) Let stand 5 - 10 minutes before serving.

Happy baking! I wonder if Garfield is around the town...

*San Remo website : http://www.sanremo.com.au