Lasagne

I've decided that i do more cooking in winter because its a much more attractive option than going out, especially at night, which just consists of being cold and talking about how cold you are. Lasagne (done right) is one of my all time favourite meals and doing it from scratch takes a bit longer, providing you with the perfect excuse to stay home and stay warm. There is no béchamel sauce here and as such it is a lot lighter and tastier. Even though there aren't that many ingredients in the meatballs, they taste phenomenal. So taking the extra time to do the meat part of the lasagne this way is most definitely worth it. It's also a great meal to make for a group, just double/triple the quantities and find a dish big enough. You can make and assemble it all in the morning and keep in the fridge until you're ready to pop it in the oven. As usual, use the best ingredients you can afford. I used Marion Plains organic oyster blade this time. Mincing it yourself ensures absolute freshness, but its not essential. 

Lasagne: Serves 4 

Ingredients:

Fresh pasta dough using 2 eggs and 200g flour (see method here)

80-100g of mozzarella, grated 

parmesan 

Meatballs: 

500g oyster blade steak, trimmed (but you need a bit of fat), 

1/2 cup of tightly packed parsley, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely grated

1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan 

80-100g fresh bread crumbs

1/3 or so cup of milk 

freshly ground salt and pepper

Sauce:

1 small brown onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

750ml bottle of passata 

Method: 

Make the pasta and refrigerate for at least half and hour. 

Mince the oyster blade (i use my kitchenaid food grinder attachment, you could also use a food processor). Pour the milk over the breadcrumbs and allow to soak in, adding more milk if necessary. To the mince add 1/2 a tsp of salt, the parsley, garlic, parmesan and some pepper. Mix well with hands and form into walnut sized meatballs. Set aside.  

For the sauce, fry the onion in a little oil in a heavy bottomed saucepan until just beginning to brown, add the garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add the passata and bring to a simmer, add the meatballs and simmer, covered, for 40-50 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through, stirring occasionally to prevent them sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

Meanwhile, roll out the pasta in two batches to setting 5, or 1mm to 1.5mm thick. Cut into lengths to fit your baking dish. My dish was about 16x26cm. Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add a tsp of rock salt and a dash of oil. Cook 2 or so lengths of pasta at a time, for about a minute. You are just aiming to 'set' the pasta. Set aside somewhere to drain making sure the sheets don't stick together. 

Once the meatballs are cooked, remove them from the sauce and mush with a fork. 

To assemble. Lightly grease the oven dish with some olive oil. Start with a spoonful of sauce, then add a sheet of pasta, some mushed up meatballs (you will have to be quite sparse with the meat to ensure you have some left for the last few layers, it all evens out in the final product), sprinkle on a little mozzarella and grate over some parmesan (don't be too heavy handed as again, there are a number of layers). Repeat these steps ending with a layer of pasta and layer of sauce and sprinkling of cheese. Finish with a little cracked pepper, cover with foil and place in a hot (200 degrees) oven for half an hour, remove the foil and cook for another 15-20 minutes, until the top is bubbly and golden. Serve with a green salad.

update: VINDICATED! I love you John Lethlean.