Lasagna is one of the oldest pasta dishes in the global cuisine. It has a long story in its history. Lasagna is made of stacked layers of lasagna sheets, meat sauce and bechamel sauce or white sauce. The meat sauce is made of ground meats, tomato puree and any other vegetables and spices. The lasagna layers are assembled on a casserole dish and then baked in the oven.
Lasagna was originated in Italy, in the city of Naples and found on a cookbook during 14th century. As they say, the original recipe of Naples was layered with local sausage, small fried meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, ricotta and mozzarella cheese and sauced with a meat sauce. This dish, Lasagna is so rich with meat, sauce and cheese.
But, in some countries, it is hard to find such amount and varieties of cheese and even if they are available, they are so expensive. As in Sri Lanka, it is really hard to find lots of cheese varieties and cheese is one of the expensive products and not available in every supermarket. Therefore, this dish is made with all the inexpensive and easy to find ingredients.
For the homemade lasagna sheets recipe, check the below post!
For the Bechamel sauce recipe, check the below post!
Ingredients
For the meat sauce :
- 500 grams minced chicken
- 5-6 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 cup onion, sliced
- 1-2 green chillies, sliced
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 6 inch celery stick, chopped
- 2 medium size tomatoes, sliced
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 2 tablespoons pepper
- 2 tablespoons chilli flakes
- 2 tablespoons chilli powder
- 2 cups marinara sauce
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
- 4 tablespoons oil
For assembling :
- 9 cooked lasagna sheets
- 12 cheese slices
- 1 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 1/2 cups bechamel sauce
Instructions
Making the meat sauce :
- Season the chicken with 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon pepper, 2 tablespoons chilli powder and let it sit for 15 minutes.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a pan and add the marinated chicken.
- Cook the chicken for around 15 minutes.
- Heat the remaining oil in a separate pan.
- Add the chopped garlic and saute well.
- Add in the onion and saute for another 5 minutes.
- Add the green chillies, carrots and celery and mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and close the lid for 5 minutes, letting the tomatoes to soften.
- Mash the tomatoes using the spoon and add in salt, pepper, chilli flakes and mix well.
- Add in the cooked chicken and mix well.
- Pour in the marinara sauce, soy sauce, tomato ketchup and mix well until well combined.
- Close the lid and cook for another 10-15 minutes until the sauce comes to boil.
Assembling :
- Preheat the oven to 200°C degrees ( 392°F ).
- Add a layer of the meat sauce to the bottom of the casserole dish.
- Add a layer of bechamel sauce on top of the meat sauce.
- Add a layer of cooked lasagna sheets.
- add cheese slices on top of the lasagna sheets.
- Add another layer of meat sauce, bechamel sauce, cheese slices and cooked lasagna sheets.
- Repeat the process for all the lasagna sheets.
- For the last layer add more cheese slices and cheddar cheese to make it more delicious.
9. Poke 9-12 toothpicks over the surface of your lasagna, to keep the foil from sticking to the cheese. Cover with foil and bake at 200°C for 30 minutes.
10. Remove the foil and bake for another 15 minutes.
11. Let the lasagna cool down for 20 minutes before slicing.
Are you searching for more main course ideas? Here are some suggestions!