Beef lasagne consists of two sauces interleaved with sheets of lasagne. It is assembled and then baked for the mozzarella to turn golden and delicious.

One sauce is bechamel, an old-fashioned white sauce. The other is the savoury beef mince.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients

6 lasagne sheets

500 g lean beef mince

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 glass red wine

200 ml beef stock

1 x 400 g can of chopped tomatoes

A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce

Dried oregano

Dried Italian herbs

Kalahari beechwood smoked salt

Black pepper

1 cup mozzarella, grated, for scattering on top

For the bechamel:

2 cups full cream milk

3 Tbsp butter

I heaped Tbsp flour

1 cup grated mozzarella

Salt and white pepper to taste

A fee gratings of nutmeg

Method

For the bechamel sauce: Bring the milk to near boiling point and take it off the heat. It must not boil.

In a saucepan, melt the butter, then take it off the heat and vigorously stir the flour in to make a roux.

On a moderate heat, add a little milk at a time to the roux while stirring vigorously. Continue until all the milk is used up. Turn the heat down low and stir for about 15 minutes for the flour to cook out. Season with salt and white pepper, lightly, and grate in some nutmeg. Stir in the grated mozzarella until combined.

In a heavy pot, heat olive oil and add the onion and garlic. Cook on a low heat, stirring, until softened.

Add the beef mince and work it with a wooden spoon to separate it and avoid clumping. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring now and then.

Add the wine, stock and chopped tomatoes and the dried herbs. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the Worcestershire sauce. Bring it to the boil and then lower the heat to cook at a simmer, uncovered, for about half an hour or until the liquid has mostly cooked away.

Preheat the oven to 200℃.

Grease an oven dish with butter and add half of the beef mince mixture. Lay lasagne sheets over, to cover. Add the remaining sauce and another layer of lasagne sheets. Top with the bechamel, spreading it out evenly. Scatter the mozzarella over.

Bake in the preheated oven for about half an hour or until the top has turned golden like mine in the picture. You could serve a crisp salad on the side if you like. DM

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.