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QUICK CALABRIAN LASAGNE

QUICK CALABRIAN LASAGNE

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Serves: 6-8

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  • Nigella Recipe

I do realize that a dish that needs an hour in the oven, might not, at first glance, seem to qualify for the epithet "quick", but I'm not trying to pull a fast one. All things are relative, and what makes this recipe feel so speedy is that there is no white sauce - with its roux and patient stirring - involved, the meat sauce takes around 5 minutes, and the lasagne sheets are used straight from the packet (no pre-boiling) and cook in the exaggeratedly liquid meat and tomato sauce. The recipe comes courtesy of an Italian informant from Calabria, where sliced cooked ham and hard-boiled eggs are part of the local lasagne.

Should you wish to provide a vegetarian version, boost the number of hard-boiled eggs to 6, the mozzarella balls to 4 and dispense with the meat, stirring a couple of canfuls of chopped tomatoes into the passata instead. You could certainly increase the cheese content - perhaps adding a stronger-tasting cheese, too. Don't be tempted to use buffalo mozzarella: not only would it be a waste of money, but the less expensive regular mozzarella seems to melt less stringily.

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Ingredients

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  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for greasing)
  • 1 small onion (peeled and chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt flakes (or 1/2 teaspoon pouring salt, or to taste)
  • 500 grams minced beef
  • 60 ml red wine or vermouth
  • 1 litre tomato passata (plus 1 litre / 1 quart water)
  • 2 balls mozzarella (not buffalo) (each 125g / 4 oz drained weight)
  • 500 grams lasagne sheets (dried not fresh)
  • 350 grams cooked ham (thinly sliced)
  • 4 tablespoons grated Parmesan
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Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200ºC/gas mark 6/400ºF. Put the eggs into a pan of water, bring to the boil and let it boil for 7 minutes, then pour off the water and sit the pan under an abundantly flowing cold tap; turn it off and leave the pan filled with cold water in the sink until the eggs are cool enough to peel.
  2. Warm the oil in a large, heavy-based pan (that comes with a lid), then add the onion, sprinkle with salt, and let it cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften.
  3. Add the meat and turn it in the pan just long enough for the raw red colour to turn brown.
  4. Add the wine or vermouth, then the passata, pouring the water into the empty passata bottle or carton and swilling it out into the pan. Bring to a bubble, then put the lid on the pan and cook at a robust simmer for 5 minutes.
  5. Peel and finely slice the eggs (which will crumble into a mess), and finely slice the mozzarella; then put a deep, greased lasagne dish, measuring approx 34 x 23 x 6cm / 9 x 13 x 2 inches, onto a baking sheet and get ready for the grand assembly.
  6. First, put a ladleful or so of very runny meat sauce into the bottom of the lasagne dish, to line the base, then arrange a layer of lasagne sheets - using about a quarter of them - on top, to cover the sauce - don't worry about a bit of overlapping.
  7. Add another ladleful of sauce, just to wet the sheets, then add a layer of ham slices, using up a third of them, before dotting with a third of the egg and of the mozzarella slices.
  8. Now add a second layer of lasagne sheets, then a couple of ladlefuls of sauce, followed again by a third of the ham, then egg, then mozzarella slices.
  9. Repeat with a further layer of lasagne sheets, another 2 ladlefuls of meat sauce, then the remaining ham, egg and mozzarella slices, before topping with a final layer of lasagne sheets.
  10. Pour the remaining sauce over the top, sprinkle with the Parmesan and cover with foil - making sure the edges are sealed - and put in the oven still on the baking sheet, for 1 hour.
  11. When the hour is up, remove the foil, to reveal the top layer runkled like a Shar Pei made of pasta, and push a knife point through the lasagne to check it is soft - if not, re-cover it and return to the oven for about 10 minutes - then let it stand uncovered, out of the oven, for 15-20 minutes (although I love this barely above room temperature if I can bear, or have time, to wait - for up to 2 hours) before slicing into hearty slabs and serving.

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  • My husband says this is the best lasagne he has ever tasted. He is really fussy about what he eats so success! Thank you.

    Posted by Maggieshone on 5th Jan 2013 at 8.42

  • Delicious lasagne.

    Posted by Adelin on 2nd Feb 2013 at 8.35