This makes a really large batch of the ragu base. Break it down into containers and freeze. This then can be turned into so many different dishes such as lasagne, cottage pie, pasta, curry or even just reheated and put on top of baked potatoes and so on. Here I've made it into a lasagne and included my recipe for lasagne.
Ingredients
Cook/Prep Time: Approx 2 hours
Ingredients:
- Ragout base - recipe to follow
- Cheese sauce - recipe to follow
- Lasagne sheets
- Fresh basil leaves
- Grated cheddar to finish
Wade's Versatile Ragout:
- 1.5kg minced beef
- 125g smoked streaky bacon - diced
- 150 ml olive oil
- 5 carrots, peeled and cut in small dice
- 2 celery sticks - cut into small dice
- 2 onions - finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic - finely chopped
- 2 large sprigs thyme
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 350ml tomato Passata
- 3 plum tomatoes, descended and diced
- 175ml red wine (you can leave this out if you like, just add a little more stock)
- 25g plain flour
- 1l beef stock
Cheese Sauce:
- 25g of butter
- 25g of plain flour
- 375ml of milk, warmed in a pan
- 75g Parmesan - grated
- 75g of cheddar cheese - grated
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- salt
- pepper
Method
- Add the olive oil to a large ovenproof pan and place over a medium-high heat. Add the beef mince and fry until the liquid reduces and it starts to dry out, stirring to break up the mince. Remove from the pan and set aside.
- Add the smoked bacon and diced vegetables to the pan along with the garlic. Season to taste, then allow the vegetables to sweat down for 5 minutes until softened
- Stir in the tomato purée, chopped tomatoes and passata and continue to cook for a few more minutes. Add 20g of the plain flour stir to coat the vegetables.
- Pour in the red wine to deglaze the pan and cook until the liquid has reduced slightly. Return the mince to the pan and add the stock.
- Cover the pan with a round of baking paper or a lid and then transfer to the oven. Cook for 35 minutes. Remove and set aside to make the sauce.
- To make the cheese sauce, melt the butter in a pan and once melted fold in the flour.
- Stir on a low heat for a few minutes, then gradually whisk in the warmed milk. Keep whisking until you have a silky, thick sauce.
- Stir in the cheeses and mustard. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper
- Blanch your lasagne sheets in salted boiling water for a couple of minutes and cool in iced water.
- Preheat your oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
- Assemble the lasagna. Start with a layer of ragout, followed by cheese sauce then the pasta. Repeat 3 times, the final layer should be the cheese sauce. Bake in the oven for 30–40 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and finish with grated cheese and fresh basil leaves.
Wades Chef Tip:
Tips: Whenever you use from the freezer be sure to defrost in the fridge and when you reheat you always reheat to above 76C in the centre.
If you want you can leave the ragout cook away on a simmer on the stove top but I find that cooking it in the oven intensifies the flavour and gives a more even cook on the ragout.
This recipe will also work with minced lamb, pork, venison and so on. Also please allow to cool completely before freezing.
