Lasagne

Ingredients
2-3 tbsp olive oil

25g butter

2 large onion, finely chopped

3 celery sticks, finely chopped

2 carrots, finely diced

3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1kg freshly ground fatty beef, such as chuck

2 fresh bay leaves

225ml milk

1/3 tsp freshly grated nutmeg

225ml white wine,

2 400g canned plum tomatoes, chopped

9-10 sheets pre-cooked dried lasagne

90g parmasen,

salt and fresh ground black pepper
For the béchamel sauce:

600ml milk

2 fresh bay leaves

1 onion, halved

freshly grated nutmeg

60g butter

60g plain flour

salt and fresh ground black pepper

Method
Warm the oil and butter in a heavy-based casserole over medium heat. Add the onion and gently fry for about 5 minutes until softened and translucent. Add the celery, carrots and garlic, and cook for another couple of minutes, stirring to coat well.

Stir in the beef with a large pinch of salt and several grindings of black pepper. Cook, stirring, until the beef has lost its raw pink look.

Add the bay leaves and milk, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for about 10 minutes, until the meat has absorbed the milk. Season with a pinch of nutmeg.

Pour in the wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes with their juice and stir thoroughly. Cook, uncovered, at a simmer for 3 hours or more. Taste and correct the seasoning.

About 45 minutes before the meat is ready, make the béchamel sauce. Pour the milk into a saucepan with the bay leaf, onion and a generous pinch of nutmeg. Bring to just below the boiling point, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 15-20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas 4. Grease a shallow baking dish.

Melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Strain the milk, then gradually stir it into the flour mixture to make a thick smooth sauce. Season to taste.

Pour some béchamel into the baking dish - enough to just cover the base. Place a layer of lasagne sheets on top, followed by a layer of meat sauce, another layer of béchamel and a good handful of Parmesan. Continue with two or three more layers until both sauces are used up. Add a final sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes until bubbling all over and a knife slips easily through the layers of lasagne.

I never quite manage to make Lasagne, the same twice in a row, probably because I like to switch what I put into my sauce. I sometimes like to add grated Courgettes, lots of mushrooms and olives. Whilst I'm certain an Italian Mama would be horrified, I like to think it ensures that those eating what I put in front of them know that it really is home-made!!

Spinach & ricotta cannelloni

150g butter
1 garlic, halved
½ a teacup of plain flour
600ml milk
a pinch of mixed spice
1 tbsp grated parmesan

olive oil

¼ of a carrot , grated
a couple of stems of parsley , chopped
¼ of a celery stick, chopped
400g tin of chopped tomatoes
1 handful of basil leaves

500g cooked spinich (frozen is fine)
300g ricotta

1 egg , beaten
2 tbsp grated parmesan
18 cannelloni tubes

Heat the oven to 190C/170C/gas 5. Heat the butter gently, add the garlic. Add the flour, stirring all the time, then the milk. Stir until the béchamel sauce thickens. Add the spice and Parmesan. Remove garlic and season.
To make the Napoli sauce, heat some olive oil, add the garlic. Then add the carrot, parsley and celery and fry gently until brown. Then add the tomatoes. Stir in the basil and half a cup of water, simmer for 20 minutes.
For the filling, mix the spinach and ricotta with the egg and the Parmesan. Season, then spoon it into the cannelloni tubes and place in a buttered baking tray. Spoon over the béchamel sauce, then add a layer of the Napoli sauce on top. Bake for 30-40 minutes.

Roast Tomato Sauce

Whilst its lovely, to pour over cook books, or foodie magazines, and create something delicious and new for dinner, sometime you just can't beat some pasta and a good sauce!

Having spent the last six weeks mainly eating carb free, today was a day for a treat -pasta, with roast tomato sauce.

Roast Tomato Sauce

1kg tomatoes halved

4 garlic gloves roughly chopped

2tsp caster sugar

2tbsp tomato puree

2tbsp olive oil
handful of fresh basil leaves

Preheat the oven to Gas 5, spread the tomatoes in a large roasting tin. Sprinkle with sugar, olive oil, garlic and puree. Roast for one hour until soft and slightly charred in places.

Scatter with basil leaves, crushing the tomatoes down with a fork to form a sauce. I prefer mine to be a littler more refined, so give it a quick whizz in the blender.

Simple and delicious.

This sauce will keep in the fridge for up to four days and freezes well.

Cheesy Macaroni

Ingredients For the cheese sauce

1pint milk

50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing the dish

50g plain flour

1 bay leaf

175gcheddar cheese

50g Parmesan

300g macaroni
.Heat oven

Gas 6. Fill a large saucepan three-quarters full with water and put it on a high heat to boil. Meanwhile, make the sauce. Using hot milk to make a béchamel greatly reduces the risk of a lumpy sauce, so start by pouring the milk into a medium saucepan and place it over a medium heat, until the milk is hot, but not quite boiling. Pour the hot milk into a jug and keep it standing by

Putthe butter in the medium saucepan and melt it over a low heat. As soon as it has melted, tip in the flour. Turn up the heat a little. Stir the flour and butter with a wooden spoon to make a thick paste called a roux. It is very important to cook this roux a little or you will end up with a floury-tasting sauce, so keep stirring it for a minute or two while it sizzles gently. Pour in about a quarter of the hot milk and stir it carefully into the roux. Gradually add the rest of the milk and keep whisking gently until it is all thoroughly mixed in. Add the bay leaf. Bring the sauce to the boil and then turn the heat down to low. Let the sauce gently simmer for about five minutes. Meanwhile, grate the two cheeses, keeping them separate. Grease a large ovenproof dish (about 22cm square) with plenty of butter.

Season the sauce very well with a good grinding of black pepper, a generous grinding of salt and pepper. Add the grated cheddar cheese to the sauce . When the water in the large pot starts to boil, add a good pudding spoonful of salt and the macaroni and cook the pasta for two minutes less than the time it says on the packet. Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir together well until thoroughly combined. Pour the cheesy macaroni into the ovenproof dish. Spread evenly and sprinkle it with the grated Parmesan. Place the dish in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese on top has turned golden brown and the sauce is bubbling.

Sometime we just need a bit of comfort from our food, and what could be better than this?