One large onions (or two medium to small ones), finely chopped
Garlic puree
One large carrot
Two celery sticks
Tinned chopped tomatoes (have 2 in case)
3 closed cup mushrooms
1 large red peppers chopped into small pieces
Tomato puree (1/5 tube)
2 tea spoons of ground cumin
Schwartz Italian herbs
Sea Salt – approx tea spoon but don’t overdo it – better under than over at this stage
Black pepper – approx half a level tea spoon of ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of gravy granules – possibly more depending on the liquidity of the mix
Tablespoon of honey
Lemon juice – bottle or squeezy
One jar of white béchamel sauce (Ragu)
White cheese to grate on top of the white sauce
Olive oil
Fresh egg pasta sheets
Method
Fry and stir the onion in olive oil – not much needed – About five minutes until they start to soften and slightly change colour to golden
Add the carrot – fry and stir for a couple of minutes
Add the meat + cumin + Italian spices + black Pepper + salt + honey + squirt of lemon juice – stir until the mince changes colour – from raw to light brown
Add the celery – fry and stir for a minute
Add the red pepper – fry and stir for a minute or so
Add mushrooms
Add tinned tomatoes + tomato puree
Add garlic puree
Depending on how thick it is add one tablespoon of gravy granules – stir it for a minute or so – it should be quite a deep red/brown colour – add more tomato paste to increase the redness. It needs to be moist but not runny – if there is too much liquid add a few more gravy granules but don’t overdo it. If you do add a little bit of milk.
Assembly
Put a layer of cooked meat in the dish (about half) then a layer of pasta, overlaping in the middle
Add another layer of meat and pasta
Cover with white sauce and grate cheese over the top. I sometimes grate the cheese into the white sauce to enrich it a bit.
Cook for about one and a half hours at 160 in a fan oven or 180 if no fan.
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