Ingredients
Lasagna sheets
1 kg minced beef
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
4 carrots, grated
2 onions, finely chopped
Aprox 150g mushrooms, finely chopped
500ml gravy
2tblsp tomato puree
Bay leaf
Bay leaf
100g butter
1l milk
100g plain flour
Handful chopped, fresh basil
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Pepper
(splash of red wine)
(splash of red wine)
Fry the onion, carrots and celery together in one pan, and the meat in the other, breaking it up with a fork as it cooks. Once you've browned it, add the mushrooms, garlic salt and pepper and carry on frying for about 10min. Add the gravy and a bay leaf to the meat, a splash of red wine if you've got some handy, and after another 10min, add all the vegetables, which should now be soft and translucent. Followed by the puree, and continue cooking on a low heat for 20min or so. Then prepare the bechamel sauce - melt the butter and add a little bit of the flour at a time, mixing constantly. Then start adding the milk slowly, while whisking. Finally, add the chopped basil. Now, we just need to put it all together, meat first, then lasagna sheets, bechamel sauce, and repeat. It's kind of mindless stuff all this, I did it while watching Mr. Nice. OK, so I messed up the bechamel sauce the first time round - I got a bit flustered when they were pulling Rhys Ifans' teeth out in jail, but that was easily fixed - I just chucked it and started again. When my mates came round the next evening, it was nice to just have a drink and catch up. This one's a no brainer for a dinner party if you prefer to chill with your friends rather than get all hot and bothered in the kitchen
