Joe can cook! Season 2 Episode 4: Comfort Food; Lasagna

I reckon it is the stress of thinking about moving out all the furniture from my place, wondering if I am ripped off with the remover's quote, thinking of  where to park my car while I am away to whether I would have enough money to survive in Melbourne before the new employers pay me that is causing my eating behavior to go bonkers recently.


Not usually a fan of carbs at night, I have been indulging in potatoes like no tomorrow, from frozen potato wedges to roast potatoes in the last week or so. I am pretty sure all the hard work I have put in bootcamp over the last 8 weeks have gone into shambles.


The week before we were craving for the king of all comfort food; lasagna. There's just something about digging into minced beef, tomato sauce, cheese and pasta sheets. In that twenty minutes or so we were digging into it, all worries were forgotten.  

It sounds like a daunting thing to make but seriously, its easy especially if you have pre-made lasagna sheets, a simple bolognese recipe, lots of parmesan cheese and a bechamel recipe too if you feel like pigging out. 

If you ever feel like pigging out, give it a try (Serving for 4):

Bolognese sauce

800 grams of minced beef

1 tin of tomatoes

4 tomatoes

Pre-mix italian herbs

2 bay leaves

5-6 cloves of garlic

2 small onions

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Lea Perrin sauce (to season)

1. Heat pan up, fry your garlic and onions till soft.

2. Season minced beef with salt, pepper and lea perrin sauce before cooking it through, get some colour into it by using medium high heat. 

3. Once the meat is cooked half way through, put in your chopped tomatoes, your tin of tomatoes, italian herbs and bay leaves. If you have fresh thyme or rosemary, you can use that too. 

4. Season generously and let it simmer 15-20 minutes till the sauce thickens up. If it doesn't you can make a roux which is basically equal portions of butter and flour (I reckon 15-20 grams would do), cooked into a yellow paste like form to thicken up the sauce.    

Bechamel sauce

1. This is again an approximate recipe (I know I am hopeless).

2. Make a roux with butter and flour (15-20 grams).

3. 1 glass of milk, poured into the roux.

4. After that 50 grams of parmesan into the mixture.

5. Throw in an egg too for good measure.

6. Stir and cook it till it thickens

Lasagna

1. The idea is sauce, parmesan cheese and pasta.

2. Start the first layer with sauce.

3. The last layer should be sauce and then top up with bechamel sauce and a good sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

4. Into the oven at 180 degrees for 25-30 minutes or till top is golden brown. 

A brilliant 1 dish wonder that will drive any comfort food craving away.