Jamie Oliver's Lasagna

Lasagna is the ultimate comfort food. Nothing can make you feel as warm and fuzzy inside, with the exception maybe of a shot of grappa. You can make all sorts of different lasagna and they can be very different from one another. My dad makes a great traditional one with the ground beef and ricotta. My mother in law makes a wonderful spinach lasagna with bechamel sauce, slightly on the sweet side. I enjoy each equally and could not choose between the two if my life depended on it.


Jamie Oliver's lasagna is from his Jamie's Food Revolution cook book. It has a Bolognese sauce base. There's nothing too different or fancy about it. Just a good old fashion recipe that you're sure to enjoy. It's a long process, perfect for a lazy, rainy Sunday.


For 6 servings:

• 2 slices of bacon, sliced
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano (fresh is good, but you'll need slightly more)
• 1 pound of ground beef or pork (or a mix of both)
• 1 can (28 ounces) of diced tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• 1 and 1/2 cup of grated parmesan cheese 
• a small bunch of fresh basil, stalks separated from the leaves
• 1/2 pound of dried egg lasagna sheets (I used spinach lasagna)
• 2 cups of ricotta (his recipe calls for crème fraiche or sour cream instead, so you could try that too)
• 1 large ripe tomato, sliced

Heat a casserole on medium-high heat. Add the olive oil with the bacon and oregano and cook, stirring until the bacon is slightly golden. Add the veges and stir every 30 seconds until softened and lightly coloured. Stir in the ground meat and canned tomatoes. Fill the tomato can halfway with water and add to casserole. Season with salt and pepper. Chopped the basil stalks and stir into the pan. Bring to a boil, turn heat down and simmer covered for 45 minutes (don't forget to stir once in a while).

Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove sauce from heat and add 1/2 cup of parmesan. Tear and stir larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones aside for later. 

Bring salted water to a boil for your lasagna sheets. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the water and cook the lasagna sheets for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain the sheets and carefully pat them dry. Spoon 1/3 of sauce into the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Add a layer of lasagna sheets. Add 1/3 of ricotta and smooth it out to cover the lasagna sheets. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and 1/3 cup of remaining parmesan cheese. Add another layer of lasagna and repeat the layers twice more (sauce, lasagna sheets, ricotta, salt, pepper, parmesan) finishing with the last layer of parmesan. Top with slices of tomato and scatter over the small basil leaves and drizzle with olive oil. 

Cover with aluminium foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for a further 35 minutes until bubbling and golden. All done!