The best beef and cheese lasagna

I have a very simple lasagne recipe but wanted to try something a little different.

This is possibly the most difficult lasagna recipe I've tried to date but well worth the effort.

Ingredients

Tomato sauce

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and chopped
• pinch of caster sugar
• 1 sprig of thyme, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 vanilla pod, halved (I took this out of my recipe)
• salt and pepper to taste

Meat sauce

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion chopped
• 400g lean minced beef
• 1 sprig of thyme, chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 375ml red wine
• 2 teaspoons tomato puree

Camembert sauce

• 20g unsalted butter
• 20g plain flour
• 60ml hot vegetable or beef stock
• 100ml double cream (I used milk)
• 250g mature Camembert cheese
• nutmeg to taste
• 9 sheets of good quality lasagna

Method

• Make the tomato sauce - heat oil in a pan and add tomatoes and garlic. Add sugar, herbs and spices. Cook over a gentle heat for 10 minutes or until tomatoes are reduced and thick
• Meanwhile, make the meat sauce - heat oil in a separate frying pan. Saute the onion for 3-5 minutes or until soft but not coloured. Add the meat and cook for 5-8 minutes . Add herbs and pour in the wine. Reduce slowly over a gentle heat until thick. Season to taste, add sugar and tomato puree. Remove the bay leaves
• Make the Camembert sauce - melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Stir for 1-2 minutes, making sure that the flour is cooked but does not brown. Pour in the hot stock slowly, stirring all the time to prevent lumps. Pour in the cream
• Shave off the Camembert skin with a vegetable peeler and discard. Break the cheese into small pieces and add to the sauce. Stir well until melted. Season to taste
• Combine tomato and meat sauce and three quarters of the Camembert sauce
• Bring a pan of salted water and 2 drops of olive oil to the boil. Blanche the lasagna sheets for approximately 3 minutes. Remove and drain
• Preheat oven to 160 degrees celsius
• Place one layer of lasagna on the base of an oven proof dish. Top with one third of the meat sauce. Add another layer of lasagna and cover with one third of the meat sauce. Repeat process until all the pasta and meat sauce is used up
• I topped mine with the last bit of cheese sauce and cheddar cheese
• Cook in the oven for approximately 30 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through

Recipe from Everyday Novelli by Jean Christophe Novelli