Howard 12 June 2009 Italian, Recipes 14 Comments  Print This Post  Email This Post

Perfect winter comfort food

A sad looking piece

It’s been freezing this week in Sydney. The sudden change of seasons has been reinforced by the cold snap which has hit us. What’s a sure fire way to keep warm ? I’d avoid the heaters and get stuck into some good comfort food, and what better comfort food is there than lasagna ?

I’ve had Neil Perry’s “Good Food” cook book for a while now. It has a good mix of traditional food with the trademark Neil Perry touch. One of his recipes which has intrigued me for a while is his best ever lasagna. Does the finished product live up to it’s name ?

Recipe : Best ever lasagna

Serves 6
Adapted from Neil Perry : Good Food
Ingredients
9 instant cook lasagne sheets
500g fresh buffalo or cow mozzarella- torn
100g freshly grated parmesan

meat sauce
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 onion- finely chopped
6 garlic cloves – finely chopped
300g (10 1/2 ounces) pork mince
300g (10 1/2 ounces) veal mince
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tsp. plain (all-purpose) flour
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
pinch of caster sugar
700ml (24 fl. oz.) tomato passata
400g (14 oz) tinned diced tomatoes
1 large handful basil leaves

bechamel sauce
50g ( 1 3/4 oz) unsalted butter
2 tbsp. plain flour
600ml (21 fl oz) milk
sea salt and freshly ground pepper

Find a big lasagna dish
Preheat the oven to 190 degrees (375 degrees F/ Gas 5)

To make the meat sauce

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, but not browned. Add the garlic and cook till fragrant.
2. Increase the heat to medium-high and add both of the meats and a pinch of salt and pepper. Cook, breaking the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon for about 4 minutes, or until the meat loses its raw colour but has not browned.
3. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 2 minutes, then pour in the balsamic vinegar and stir occasionally untill it has almost evaporated.
4. Add the sugar and passata and diced tomatoes and allow the sauce to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until it reduces and has started to thicken slightly. Add salt and pepper. Stir through the basil leaves and set the sauce aside.

To make the bechamel

1. Melt the butter in a saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the flour to the butter and stir constantly over the heat, for 1 – 2 minutes.
2. Remove pan from the heat and add the milk all at once, whisking constantly to avoid any lumps.
3. Return the pan to the heat and continue to whisk constantly, until the sauce boils and thickens. Remove from the heat and season with salt and pepper.

To assemble

1. Spread one quarter of the meat sauce at the bottom of the lasagne dish. Place 3 of the lasagne sheets over the sauce. Spread another quarter of the sauce over the lasagne, followed by 1/3 of the mozarella.
2. Continue to layer the lasagne sheets, sauce and mozarella two more times. Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the final layer of mozzarella, then sprinkle evenly with the parmesan.
3. Cook the lasagne for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has browned and the sauce is bubbling. Remove the lasagne from the oven and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.

The verdict ? It’s a good feeling to have lasagna you’ve made yourself. But lasagna is the type of food which takes hours to make but really tastes like spag bowl with copious amounts of cheese. In saying that, it’s one of my favourite comfort foods and I deliberately cooked a massive batch to store in the freezer. It’s perfect for the colder months ahead and just a microwave away from a fantastic meal.

Neil Perry’s lasagna is wonderfully creamy and full of flavour. He also mentions this in his book, but the addition of balsamic vinegar really does shine through and adds a new dimension in flavour. I’d say that it is one of the better lasagna’s I’ve tried, but I try to steer away from it at restaurants as I feel the price doesn’t warrant it being a good restaurant dish.

The recipe looks long but it is incredibly easy. There are essentially 3 parts to the recipe and they all tie in really well. Lastly, lasagna is up there as the best of the best for left overs!