LalalalaLasagna

When I was young my mom always made this one lasagna. I would smell it in the house and run downstairs. Tasting her filling, her sauce, everything I could get my hands on. Impatient as I was, I would always burn my tongue on the filling.

Somehow my mom stopped making it. When I asked her the recipe some years ago, she couldn't find it. But now, many years later I relived memories. By making my moms lasagna with my own twist.

My moms lasagna
for 4-6 servings

5-6 carrots
Half a celery
3 onions
3 cloves of garlic
500 grams of ground beef
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1 package of tomatosauce
1 pack of lasagna sheets
seasoning
100 grams of grated cheese

Clean and cut the carrots, celery and onion bite size. Using a foodprocessor, chop up the vegetables and the garlic. In a heated pan, loose the ground beef until it is done. Add the vegetables and let it cok for around 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and sauce to the meat and vegetables and bring to a simmer.

Béchamel sauce
50 grams of butter
50 grams of flour
500 ml of milk

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 180C. In a small saucepan start melting the butter. Add the flour and whisk till it start forming a thick doughy texture. Slowly add a bit of milk and keep whisking. Keep stirring the sauce, adding milk in little by little. Cooking it all the way through, thickening it up and season well. Save a little bit of milk until the end. When thick, set aside for now.

Mai's twist
1 zucchini
1 tablespoon of Italian Herbs
2 cloves of garlic
1 mozzarella ball

Using a peeler, make thin length way slices of the zucchini. Sprinkle with some oil, season and grill them using a grill-pan. When done, set aside and sprinkle with some more oil, italian herbs and chopped up garlic.

Assembling the Lasagna
In a greased baking dish, scoop 1-2 soup spoons of sauce. Using your spoon, make it an even layer of sauce. Cover with lasagna sheets. Repeat once. On your second layer of sheets place the zucchini and spread evenly. Slice or tear half the mozzarella and spread in between the zucchini. Cover with lasagna sheet, sauce, lasagna sheet and sauce again.

Using your last bit of milk, reheat your béchamel. Give it some time to thicken up again. Then pour over your lasagna. Covering all the sauce. Sprinkle with the grated cheese and sliced left over mozzarella.

Place in the middle of the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, check if the pasta is done. If desired, put it under the grill for a few minutes to brown of the béchamel cover. I would recommend resting the lasagna for 5 minutes before serving. This will make the lasagna firm up and sets the sauce.

Enjoy my childhood memories!