Double Cheese Lasagna

"Everyone loves my Lasagna. Whenever I suggested a get together dinner, my friends ask me to make them. So here it is! They are rich, decadent and creamy, so trust me when I say, you will want to go for seconds."

Prep Time:    20min

Cook Time:    2h 10min

Total Time:   2h 30min

Servings:     8

Difficulty:   Hard

Ingredient: 

Bechamel Sauce

600 gm of ground beef

300 gm of grated cheese 

2 large tomatoes 

400 gm of can diced tomatoes

140 gm of tomato paste

4 Tbsp of ketchup 

3 garlic cloves

4 Tbsp of olive oil

1 medium size onion

1 Tbsp of black pepper

1 Tsp of salt

1 Tbsp of paprika powder 

a palm full of dry oregano leaves  

a palm full of dry basil leaves

a pack of flat lasagna pasta

butter for greasing 

1. Heat up a large pan and drizzle in a little bit of olive oil.
2. Add all of the meat to the pan and brake it down to crumble size pieces. 
3. As it cook's you might notice that the meat is producing a lot of juice. Regularly drain the juice out of the pan, you don't want your meat to boil in water. 
4. Cook the meat until it has reached a nice dark brown color. 
5. Dice the onions to small bits. 
6. Heat up a large sauce pan and ad the oil.
7. Add the onions to the sauce pan and let them turn a nice golden color.
8. Cut the tomatoes in small pieces. 
9. Add the tomatoes to the sauce pan and let it simmer for 5 minutes while occasionally stirring.
10. Add in the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and ketchup. Give it a good stir. 
11. Grate in the garlic cloves using a grater. 
12. If you are using fresh oregano and basil, chop it first. 
13. Add the paprika powder, oregano, basil, salt and pepper. Give it a good stir and let the sauce simmer for about 8 minutes.
14. Add the meat to the sauce and stir.
15. Let it simmer for a few minutes in order for the flavors to combine. 
16. Prepare the béchamel sauce following this recipe.
17. Preheat the oven to 185°C. 
18. Grease the baking form with the butter evenly to prevent the lasagna to stick to the form. 
19. Layer the lasagna in to the form following this order: (from bottom to top) pasta, meat, béchamel, pasta, meat, béchamel, pasta, meat, béchamel, half of the cheese.
20. Place the lasagna in to the oven and bake for 35 minutes.
21. Take out the lasagna and moved the oven grid higher. 
22. Add a second layer of the remaining cheese.
23. Place the lasagna back in the oven on the higher grid and continue baking for an other 10 minutes.
24. Test if the lasagna is ready by using a knife. The knife should cut right in with ease and come out almost clean. The second layer of cheese should be crispy and golden.
25. Remove the lasagna from the oven and let it cool for 5 minutes before serving. 
26. Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.