Ingredients
Check off ingredients as you go
Serves 6-8
- 500 g (1.1 lb) lasagna sheets (1 package)
- 500 g (1.1 lb) ground beef (minced beef)
- 1.2 kg (three 400 g / 14 oz cans) crushed tomatoes
- 400 ml (1⅔ cups) water (I use the tomato can as my measure)
- 2 carrots, cut into small dice
- 1 large stalk celery, cut into very small dice
- 1 onion, cut into small dice
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 glass (200 ml / ¾ cup + 1 Tbsp) red or white wine (or water)
- 3 Tbsp olive oil (for browning the meat and vegetables)
- Salt, pepper
- In a Dutch oven or a deep sauté pan, brown the ground beef over high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil (no more!), breaking up the clumps with a wooden spoon. This lets the meat concentrate its flavor and release its water. Set aside.
- In the same pot, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then the onion, carrot and celery (all three cut into very small cubes) and cook over medium heat until lightly golden.
- Return the meat to the pot, season with salt, stir, then pour in the wine and let it evaporate while you keep stirring. Add the tomatoes, water and bay leaves, and season with pepper. Turn the heat down to very low, cover and simmer for at least one hour, ideally two.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), fan/convection. In a large baking dish, spread a ladleful of sauce over the bottom, then add a layer of lasagna sheets, a layer of sauce, and repeat until your dish is full. Finish with a layer of sauce; at this point you can sprinkle over some breadcrumbs or vegan (parve) cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
Serve with a green salad.
Tips and variations
- Most store-bought lasagna sheets today are no-boil; the important thing is that they’re well soaked in sauce so they cook through and don’t dry out.
- This lasagna is delicious reheated the next day.
- If you’d rather stick to the classic béchamel + sauce version, you can make a béchamel by swapping the butter for margarine and the milk for soy milk.