I make a fully from scratch lasagne maybe a couple of times a year. It’s huge project, so, while it is better than a simpler version, whether or not this is ‘worth it’ depends on if you enjoy this sort of involved cooking.

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I’ve slowly adjusted my recipe over the last decade or so, refining, taking on ideas from chiefs I respect, and adding a few of my own touches. This is where my thinking currently is – it’s not 1,000% traditional, but still in the ballpark of traditional.

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One advantage of this recipe is I use a ‘two bake’ method, which means almost all the work is done the night before. (Slow cooked, saucy, & baked pasta dishes improve from being left overnight, and doing so will allow you to get much cleaner layers.) This makes it perfect for dinner parties or family meals, letting you spend more time with guests (its also a crowd pleaser - lasagne is just a generally popular dish).

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This will make 10-12 servings. So enough for an event, plus leftovers for later in the week. The tomato sauce for serving will make enough for 4, so double this for a larger event. Serve by itself, or with fresh bread and some leaves lightly dressed with olive oil, balsamic, and sea salt.

1. Start the day before and give yourself at least 5 hours for all the prep.
    

2. For the Bolognese: In a large pan brown the beef – cook continually breaking it up with a wooden spoon so that you don’t get chunks and it doesn’t stick to the bottom. It won’t look very good at first, but after 10 mins or so the water will evaporate, and the meat will start to cook in its own fat. Keep it moving until mostly browned then remove from the pan and discard any excess fat.
    

3. Grate the carrot, and very finely dice the onion and celery (cut the stalks lengthways first, then chop). Fry off in the same pan until starting to soften, then return the beef, together with the tomato paste, red chilli flakes, oregano, black pepper, and 1 tbsp salt (we’ll add more later). Cook together for a few minutes, then pour over the wine and cook out the alcohol for 5 minutes or so.
    

4. Combine the can of tomatoes with the garlic cloves and 200 ml of water and blitz with a stand mixer until smooth. Add to the bolognaise with the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, and bouillon cube. Bring to a bare simmer and cook, covered, stirring occasionally for 3 – 4 hours. It should reduce a little bit into a nice thick sauce. Taste at the end and add more salt to taste, plus maybe a bit of extra vinegar.[1]
    

5. For the pasta, whisk the eggs together with the oil and combine with the flour and salt in a large bowl. Leave covered to hydrate for 15 mins then kneed for 10-15 minutes until smooth and springy. Leave covered for at least an hour.
    

6. For the cheese sauce. Add the flour and butter to a large saucepan and mix on low heat to create a rue. Add the garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Whisk in the milk, a bit at a time, until you have a smooth, somewhat thickened, white sauce. Add the cheese in a couple of batches and the mustard, whisking until fully melted into the sauce. Taste and season – you’ll probably only need about a tsp of salt as the cheese is quite salty.
    

7. To assemble: Get ready a large pan of simmering water and a bowl of ice water. Have the Bolognese and cheese sauce ready, cooled but not cold (they’ll be harder to spread if cooled completely). You’ll also need a couple of clean (like straight out the wash clean) tea towels.
    

8.  Divide your pasta into 3-4 chunks and roll out one at a time. Put them through the pasta maker of the widest setting, then fold the pasta onto itself and put through the rollers again. Repeat a few times. Then feed through on incrementally reduced settings (so 7, then 6, then 5, etc), until thin, but not paper thin – the second narrowest setting should be about right.
    

9. Cut this pasta strip into rectangles around 10% smaller than your baking tin (as it will expand a bit white cooking).[2] Once cut, sperate the strips with non-stick paper to stop them sticking.
    

10. Cook each strip of pasta for 2 minutes until it floats, then shock it in the ice water to stop cooking (it should be robust enough to handle with tongs). Place it on a tea towel and dry with another.[3] Rub the bottom of your baking tray with oil, add the pasta sheet, spread a thin layer of Bolognese, make another pasta sheet the same way, dry and add on top. Then do the same with a layer of the cheese sauce, make another pasta sheet and top. So on and so forth until all your sauces are used up (with these amounts you may have a few pasta sheets left). Top with a final smear of remaining cheese sauce and bake in a 180 oven for 20 minutes. Allow to cool, cover, and leave in the fridge overnight.
     

11. The day of: Make your tomato sauce – in a saucepan simmer the onion in oil, blitz everything else together with a stand mixer and pour over. Cook on a low to medium heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning. You don’t want it fully ‘cooked out’, it should still have a bright acidic taste.
     

12. In the pan, cut the lasagne into servings with a large sharp knife – this should make 8-10 very generous servings, or 12 medium ones. Taking care to preserve the layering with clean cuts and lifting the ‘blocks’ out whole, take however many servings you want out and place them separately on an oiled baking tray, topping each with more shredded mozzarella. Bake in a 180 oven for 20 minutes, until the top starts to bubble and brown.
     

13. To serve: Place a ladle of the tomato sauce on each plate and a slice of the lasagne on top. Add a little shredded basil and serve immediately.

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Notes

[1] Both this and the cheese sauce should be towards the salty side, as baking with the pasta will temper this. Overall, it should be rich & deep, with umami from the browning and soy sauce, but also clear ‘bright’ notes from the wine and vinegar (this is more acidic than a traditional Bolognese, to contrast with the richness of the rest of the dish.)

[2] My tin was 22cm by 34 cm, so the pasta needed to be about 20 by 30 cm (you can do multiple strips, each a bit less than half the width if your pasta maker isn’t wide enough).

[3] It doesn’t need to be bone dry, but if it’s still wet it’ll dissolve in the bake.