Beef Cheek Lasagna With Scalloped Cheesy Potato Crust!
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott/Not Quite Nigella
- 800g/28.26 slow cooked beef cheeks (or really any slow cooked meat is great, see recipe here)
- 400ml/14.13fl ozs. tomato passata
- 100g/3.5ozs. lasagna sheets, rinsed under water
- 75g/2.65ozs. butter
- 1/3 cup flour
- 2 cups hot milk
- 4 potatoes, washed well
- 1 cup cheese
- 50g/1.7ozs butter, cut into small cubes
Step 1 - Cook the beef cheeks in a large cast iron pot with the passata and break down the cheeks so that they are shredded up. Set aside to cool and test for seasoning adding salt and pepper if needed.
Step 2 - Make the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a medium sized saucepan and once melted, add the flour and stir to cook the mixture. Remove the pan from the heat and fradually add the hot milk whisking constantly. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 3 - Preheat the oven to 190C/374F. PLace a layer of bechamel sauce on the base of a lasagna tin - I used a square springform tin because I like slicing lasagna exactly and I find that being able to remove the sides allows me to do that. But use any square tin. Add a layer of lasagna sheets beef and then a layer of beef, bechamel and more sheets. Repeat until everything is used up.
Step 4 - Slice the potatoes and layer them on top of the lasagna. Sprinkle with salt and then add the cheese on top of the potatoes as well as the cubes of butter. Cover with foil (spray the foil with non stick oil spray to prevent it sticking) and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and then bake for 20-25 minutes uncovered.