Wuselig Recipes · Recipe 71
Wusel Lasagne
Layer pasta with mild beef and tomato sauce and a white milk sauce. Add cheese and bake until the pasta is tender.
The little story
The Four-Storey Pasta House
A slice of baked lasagne waited on the kitchen table. The dish had rested and the food was cooling a little more. Puschel tilted his head almost to table height.
Puschel„A pasta house! Tomato lives downstairs. Cheese lives on the roof.“
Flauschi„And the white sauce has a home between them.“
Flauschi held a small serving spatula beside the plate. Puschel counted the layers twice and got different answers.
Puschel„It grows another floor when I look sideways.“
Flauschi„Then look straight. Otherwise we will need stairs.“
They placed their plates together. Earlier Puschel had wanted more dry sheets, but Flauschi had explained that each layer needed plenty of sauce.
Puschel„A cosy pasta house cannot be crunchy and dry.“
Flauschi„Exactly. And no roof edge may peek out of the sauce.“
Once comfortably warm, they tasted their portions. The pasta was tender. Puschel took a little piece from the edge.
Puschel„I will eat the balcony first.“
Flauschi laughed and passed him a napkin. The pasta house had no real balcony, but it had two very happy diners.
Preparation and layering: about 35 min · Sauces and baking: about 65 min · Rest: 10 min · Total about 110 min; cooking times and ovens vary.
For 4 family portions
How to make it
In a few words: Layer pasta with mild beef and tomato sauce and a white milk sauce. Add cheese and bake until the pasta is tender.
Ingredients
- 200 g dry no-pre-cook lasagne sheets (check packet)
- 300 g fresh minced beef
- 1 small onion (about 80 g)
- 1 carrot (about 100 g)
- 1 tbsp rapeseed oil, plus 1 tsp for the dish
- 1 tbsp tomato purée (about 20 g)
- 700 g tomato passata
- 100 ml water
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- White sauce: 30 g butter, 30 g plain wheat flour and 500 ml milk
- 100 g grated Gouda
- ½ tsp salt for the whole dish, pepper to taste
Method
- Wash hands. Weigh ingredients and get equipment ready. Adults handle knives, graters, tin openers, mixers, the hob, oven and all hot containers.
- An adult peels and finely dices the onion and carrot. Lightly oil a baking dish about 25 × 20 cm. Preheat to 200°C conventional or 180°C fan.
- Heat oil in a large frying pan. Fry beef into crumbs for 5–7 minutes. Add onion and carrot for 5 minutes. Briefly stir in tomato purée. Add passata, water, oregano and half the salt; simmer gently for 15 minutes. Keep the sauce pourable, not dry.
- Melt butter in a saucepan. Whisk in flour and heat, stirring, for 1 minute without browning. Gradually whisk in milk. Bring to a boil, then stir over low heat for 3–5 minutes until smooth and slightly thickened. Add remaining salt and a little pepper.
- An adult layers the hot sauces. Spread a little tomato sauce on the base. Divide pasta into 3–4 layers alternating with tomato and white sauces. Avoid thick overlaps; break sheets to fit. Cover every top sheet completely with sauce, then add cheese.
- Bake in the lower third for 35–45 minutes, following any different instructions on the pasta packet. A knife should pass through soft sheets all the way to the centre. If cheese browns too quickly, an adult loosely covers the dish with an oven-safe lid. Continue baking if pasta is still firm.
- For chicken and minced meat, an adult checks the thickest part with a clean food thermometer: at least 70°C for 2 minutes. Continue cooking if needed. Colour alone does not prove meat is safely cooked.
- Remove with oven gloves and rest for 10 minutes. Divide into four and cool further before eating.
Equipment
25 × 20 cm baking dish, frying pan, saucepan, whisk, scales, food thermometer, oven gloves
Allergens and shopping
wheat/gluten and milk; pasta sheets may also contain egg. Check actual ingredient labels and family allergies.
Vegetarian vegetable and lentil filling
Replace beef with 240 g cooked, drained lentils and 200 g finely diced courgette. Soften onion and carrot in oil for 5 minutes, add courgette for 5 minutes. Add tomato purée, passata, water and oregano; simmer 10 minutes. Stir in lentils for another 5 minutes. Layer and bake as above. Discard bitter-tasting courgette. Use Gouda labelled vegetarian without animal rennet and suitable pasta sheets. This version is vegetarian but still contains dairy and gluten.
Recipe check
Quantities and method were checked editorially against cooking references. These are our own family versions; no practical cooking test has been carried out. Times are estimates; doneness and product instructions take precedence.
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