Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves finely minced
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 small carrot optional , peeled and shredded using a box grater
- 1 celery stick optional , shredded using a box grater (discard stringy bits remaining)
- 1 lb / 500g beef mince ground beef
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 beef bouillon stock cubes crumbled
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 tsp white sugar Note 2
- 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Meat sauce – Sauté onion, garlic, celery and carrot, cook beef. Add 2/3 bottle of passata + remaining Meat Sauce ingredients, simmer 10 min. Topping Sauce – add everything into remaining passata in bottle, shake. Creamy ricotta – vigorously whisk until it's like whipped cream. Layer – Remove half meat sauce from pan. Slide lasagna sheets under Meat Sauce (break as needed), then do 2 more layers using reserved meat sauce. Dollop with ricotta, cover with cheese, bake 30 min at 180C/350F (160C). Stand 10 min before cutting.
- FULL RECIPE
- Sauté – Heat olive oil in a deep skillet/pan over medium high heat. (Mine is 26cm/10.5" wide, 5cm/2" deep) (Note 5) Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté until onion is translucent – about 3 minutes.
- Cook beef – Turn up heat to high. Add beef and cook, breaking it up with the spatula, until you no longer see red.
- Sauce – Add about 2/3 of the passata (keep rest for Sauce), and remaining Meat Sauce ingredients. Bring to rapid simmer, then turn down to medium/medium low. Simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced).
- Make sauce – Add Sauce Flavourings into the tomato passata bottle and shake to combine.
- Creamy ricotta (optional) – Put the ingredients in a bowl. Start softening the ricotta using smearing motions with the back of a spoon, then switch to a whisk and give it a vigorous whisk for 20 – 30 seconds until it resembles whipped cream. (If using smooth ricotta, you'll barely need to do this).
- Assemble lasagna (in-post step photos and video are helpful)
- Remove half filling – Remove the pan from the stove. Remove half the Meat Sauce into a bowl.
- Base layer – Slide one lasagna sheet, starting from the side, under the Meat Sauce – this will be the base of the lasagna. Break up pieces of lasagne and slide them in under the Meat Sauce around the sides of the pan (to form the remainder of the bottom layer). There is no need to be accurate with coverage here, you can overlap and have gaps. We are making a rustic quick lasagna, remember! Spread the Meat Sauce to cover all the lasagna sheets.
- Layer 2 – Top with another layer of dried lasagna sheets. Then spread over the Meat Sauce in the bowl.
- Layer 3 – Cover with a 3rd layer of lasagna sheets.
- Toppings – Pour over the Sauce and spread over the top. Do 12 – 15 dollops of ricotta across the surface (if using). Sprinkle with cheese.
- Bake and rest – Bake for 30 minutes uncovered, then set aside for 10 minutes to stabilise a bit.
- Serve – Sprinkle with parsley (if using), then cut and serve! Enjoy with a simple Balsamic Rocket Salad and Garlic Bread on the side.
Notes
1. Tomato passata – Pureed, strained pure tomatoes, sometimes labelled “tomato puree” in the US (here’s a photo of Mutti tomato passata sold at Walmart). It’s readily available in Australian supermarkets nowadays, alongside pasta sauces. Passata is excellent for making thick, smooth sauces. More on tomato passata here.
US – You can substitute with what you call “tomato sauce” (eg Hunts brand). Australia, you cannot use what we call tomato sauce which is like ketchup, a condiment!
2. Sugar – Just a little touch takes the sour edge of passata, to compensate for not slow cooking this meat sauce for hours upon hours. 🙂
3. Ricotta – Not all ricotta is created equal, my favourite is Paesanella. Good ones are sold over the counter or in baskets in vac packs and once whisked, it becomes all melty like you see in the video and photos. The ones in tubs (like Perfect Italiano) tend to be a bit powdery and though they sort of melt, you get little curds. It still works, and the lasagna as a whole is still delicious, the mouthfeel just isn’t as creamy. Preferable to use a smooth ricotta if you can’t get your hands on a good ricotta. Or just skip it 🙂
4. Lasagna sheetsvary in size depending on the brand, so the number of sheets you need will differ but 250g/8oz in total should be enough. Patch up gaps with broken bits, overlapping parts are fine, don’t worry about how neat your layers are, it’s a rustic quick and easy lasagna after all. 🙂 Just aim for full coverage of each layer!
Note: Recipe not designed for fresh lasagna sheets (from the fridge), they will turn into mush as the sauce is looser so there’s sufficient liquid for the dried lasagna sheets to absorb.
5. Skillet / pan – It’s fine to use one slightly larger, your lasagna will just be a different height (you might need a few extra sheets for coverage). Don’t try to use a smaller one, you’ll have overflowing issues!
Nutrition per serving, including the ricotta. A lot less than traditional lasagna because we’re using ricotta rather than a rich cheese sauce for the topping!
