In the depths of winter, and in the middle of yet lockdown, a sure fire way to cheer up everyone is a long slow cooked ragú layered with cheesy white sauce and pasta! Not to mention compliment a Christmas to my partner from my brother, a 2017 Fontodi Chiant Classico.

For the ragu

• 2 tbsp Olive oil
• 500g Beef Mince
• 1 Onion, diced
• 2 sticks celery, chopped 
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 2 level tbsp plain flour
• 150ml stock, I had chicken stock left.
• A few drops of Lee and Perrin’s.
• 3 tbsp tomato purée
• A couple of sprigs of thyme
• Tsp of Nutmeg
• 1 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

For the white sauce

• 50g butter
• 50g plain flour
• 750ml milk
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 50g Parmesan, finely grated 
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the lasagne

• 4 lasagne sheets, no soak
• 75g mature cheddar, grated

Making the Lasagna

1. Start with the ragu, what you want to do is brown off the meat first, so heat up a bit of oil first and do it in small batches to get really good colour and a nice deep rich sauce at the end. Once all the meat has been cooked add the onion celery and garlic and soften. Put the meat back, add the flour and mix in. Then add the tom purée, nutmeg and thyme, stir and then add the stock.
2. Bring back to the boil and add in the chopped tomatoes, and the L&P sauce, reduce to simmer on the smallest hob and cover for 1 ½ hours checking occasionally, this low and slow stage of the cooking is important to get the luxurious texture wanted into the ragu.
3. Next the white sauce, make a roux with the butter and flour and incorporate the milk, then add the cheese, sometimes I add mozzarella with the Parmesan to get a stringy consistency when served. Finally add the Dijon and season.- Probably a good time to start heating the oven to 200ºC/G6, if you are in a hurry.
4. Right, the layers, easy peasy, choose dish, for this size recipe I use a 25x19cm (or 10” pie dish), layer 2/5ths of the ragu, followed by 2/5^th  white sauce, add a layer of lasagna sheets and repeat, finally add the last layer of 1/5^th each ragu and white sauce, and top with cheese.
5. Leave for a little while for pasta to soften, and let all the flavours really mix together.
6. When ready heat the oven to 200ºC/G6, and cook for about 35 mins or until golden and bubbly. 
7. Remove and serve with garlic bread and coleslaw (and a bit of salad), for a true anglicised meal!
8. Pour Chianti.

Making the Lasagna.