Quick Lasagne with a Creamy Mascarpone Topping

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Layers of rich, beef and tomato ragù, flavoured with red pepper, red wine and fresh herbs, layered with lasagne sheets, and topped with a silky, cheesy mascarpone and parmesan sauce. Finished with mozzarella and even more parmesan, this fantastic, made-from-scratch lasagne can be on the table in around an hour, from start to finish.

Unbeatable comfort food, lasagne is one of my favourite pasta dishes. Wonderful at any time of year with a crisp salad and some garlic bread, I particularly enjoy it in autumn, when the days are getting colder and the nights are drawing in.

Classic Lasagne

A classic lasagne is a hard dish to beat. However, there’s no getting around the fact, that it takes a while to make and is certainly not something to tackle, from scratch, on a weeknight. First, you have to make the ragù, and a good ragù can take a few hours to cook. In another pot, you will need to make a béchamel sauce, which is not difficult, but involves a good 10 – 15 minutes of hands on time, stirring continuously. Everything is then layered with the lasagne sheets and cheese in a separate baking dish and baked in the oven. A few hours of cooking, lots of washing up and you are good to go. As wonderfully delicious as it is, it is a labour of love.

Quick Lasagne

I really wanted to create a lasagne that I could whip up on a weeknight with minimal effort and maximum flavour. There are a lot of one-pot recipes around, but in order to make it in one pot, you have to sacrifice the delicious topping; it is often replaced by a generous quantity of mozzarella. However, I consider a cheesy, saucy topping to be non-negotiable, so whilst this recipe may use a second pan, the sauce in this recipe basically just needs melting, rather than cooking, and voila! No faff, only one extra pan to wash and, I promise, no compromise on flavour.

Maximising the flavour of the ragù

Whilst I normally like to cook my ragù slowly, for a few hours, to enhance and concentrate all the flavours, this recipe relies on a different balance of ingredients to ensure that it is both full of flavour and the texture is soft and melt in the mouth. When cooked with the pasta and the cheesy topping, these help to further balance and enhance the flavours and textures of this fabulous dish.

How to make Quick Lasagne with a Creamy Mascarpone Topping

Collect all the ingredients together:

Ragù –

• onion, peeled and roughly chopped. You could also use a red onion or shallots.
• carrot, washed, trimmed and roughly chopped. You also use celery, or both.
• pepper/capsicum, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped. You could also use a yellow or orange pepper
• garlic cloves, peeled
• olive oil
• minced/ground beef (ideally 5% fat). Or use a mix of beef/veal and/or pork.
• dry red or white wine (or use extra water or stock)
• passata (plus water to swill out the bottle/carton). Or you can use tinned tomatoes
• beef stock cube/stock pot
• tomato puree
• chilli flakes (optional). I love a bit of spice in my lasagne but it is totally up to you.
• Worcestershire Sauce
• fresh or dry bay leaf, if available
• sprigs fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme)
• fine salt, or more, to taste
• freshly ground black pepper
• sugar, if necessary

Pasta –

• sheets of lasagne

Topping –

• mascarpone cheese
• milk, ideally full fat but semi skimmed will be fine too.
• grated Parmesan, divided. Or use another strong hard cheese.
• ball of mozzarella. You could use grated mozzarella but ideally use fresh.
• fine sea salt flakes (or to taste)
• freshly ground black pepper
• freshly grated nutmeg

How to make this wonderful and speedy lasagne:

1. Ragù: prepare the onion, carrot, pepper and garlic, tip into a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. If you prefer you can chop the vegetables by hand.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in cast iron casserole over a medium heat and add all the vegetables. Cook for 5 minutes, until softened and slightly caramelised. Stir regularly.
3. Next add the minced beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you cook it. Cook until lightly browned. Around another 5 minutes.
4. Add the wine and cook on high until reduced by half. Remember to scrape up the delicious sticky residue left by cooking the beef and the vegetables.
5. Add all the remaining ingredients to the cast iron casserole dish. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. 
6. Sauce: when you are ready to assemble the lasagne, measure the mascarpone and milk into a small saucepan with ¾ of the parmesan, some freshly ground black pepper and a grating of nutmeg. Heat gently whilst stirring, until it forms a silky sauce. This should only take a minute or two. Taste to see if it needs any salt
7. Layer: break 4 sheets of lasagne in half and push them under the surface of the pasta sauce, trying to distribute them evenly throughout.
8. Use the remaining 4 sheets to cover the top of the meat sauce as evenly as possible. You will need to break up some sheets but keep them as big as possible.
9. Pour over the mascarpone sauce, making sure it covers the top of the lasagne evenly. Rip up the mozzarella ball and scatter evenly over the sauce. Grate over the remaining parmesan.
10. Cook: cover with foil and cook in a preheated oven for:
    • 20 minutes, if the ingredients are still very hot.
    • 35 minutes, if you have made it ahead of time and all the ingredients are at room temperature.
    • 50 minutes, if you have made it ahead of time and you are cooking it straight from the fridge.
11. Remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted and lightly browned and everything is bubbling and piping hot. Serve from the pan.

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Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodil_kitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.