Once again, let's thank Mr. Oliver for his nice, wonderfully tasting recipe. Spring in Göteborg was fabulous in March, but it was grey and rainy in April, so we still needed some nice comfort food from time to time. For my birthday, at the end of March, my cousin and his Belgian girlfriend came to surprise me for a nice weekend stay here in Sweden. We went around, had our first BBQ on the islands and at the end of the day, lasagna seemed like a natural choice: I wanted to try that recipe for a couple of weeks and this is something that is easily sharable with many people. Of course, I re-interpreted the recipe, for normal people, but this is still clearly Jamie's style and goodness!The recipe is for 8 to 10 peoples. The picture does not do justice to this dish!
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350F). In a large pan, slowly fry 50g of bacon with a pinch of cinnamon, until golden. Finely chop an onion and a carrot and add it to the pan along with 2 cloves or garlic, pressed, some fresh rosemary and thyme. We had plants of both and they were not so fresh anymore, this was the perfect excuse to finish them! Adjust the quantity, I put maybe 2-3 tablespoons of each. You could replace by other herbs, but the combination of the rosemary and thyme was sooooo good! Add a lump of olive oil. Mix well. Add 400g of grounded beef and 200g of pork, either grounded or minced. Cook for 5-10 minutes. The smell will be intoxicating! Add 800ml of crushed tomatoes, 250ml of red wine or water and 2 bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then put the heat down. Let it simmer for 1-1.5 hours. Here, the time should be adjusted to what type of pan you have. Our big pan does not have a lid, so we have to mix frequently, sometimes add liquid and simmer for shorter period of time (1h). If you have a cover, and the time, you could do it gently over 1.5h.
In the meanwhile, cut a butternut squash in half, deseed it and put it face up in a oven dish. Pour some olive oil on it, sparkle some salt and pepper and put in the oven for 45-60 minutes, or until soft. Jamie makes a while sauce with crème fraîche and intercalate it with the red sauce, the lasagna pasta and the wedges of squash. I thought of making some squash purée instead, using some milk to loosen the mixture. This is maybe simpler and definitively less heavy stuff, and it was delicious! So! Take away the eatable part of the squash, put it in a bowl and mash it, adding some milk to make very nice and smooth.
Now comes the part to mount the lasagna. We are occupied people, so we buy "ready for the oven" dried pasta. I like the fresh kind better, but you end up never finishing the pack, and freezing it, then you forget about it... so we buy dried ones. I just don't have the patience to pre-bake them before putting everything together, so those "ready for the oven" ones are perfect for me. Note that if you do use this, the sauce could be a little more watery since the pasta will "suck it in" more. I usually split the lasagna in 2 oven dish. We eat half right the same week I make it, and I freeze the second half (once cooked) for later use, like when we go on a weekend gateway and need some already made food once we are back. In total, you should use a 6-8cm deep dish. The lateral sides should be something like A3 size, so 30cm x 40cm, approximately (of course, if smaller, the lasagna will end up thicker, which is not bad!).
Now put the oven to 200°C (400F). Put a half of the tomato sauce in the dish (or dishes!). Cover with lasagna pasta. Spread the squash purée and cover with lasagna pasta. Pour the rest of the tomato sauce, cover with some grated Parmesan and fresh mozzarella torn apart (150g). Cook in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until golden.
Be creative: if you want to change the order, please do! I don't like having 4 layers of pasta in my lasagna, but if you do, then do it!!!
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