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Quick Lasagne with a Creamy Mascarpone Topping

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.

Serves 2 - 3

Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Keyword mascarpone, Pasta, ragù
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

Ragù:

  • 100g/1 small onion, peeled and roughly chopped.
  • 70g/1 carrot, washed, trimmed and roughly chopped.
  • 140g/1 red pepper, stem and seeds removed, roughly chopped.
  • 10g/3 plump garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 250g minced/ground beef (ideally 5% fat).
  • 125ml/½ cup dry red or white wine (or use extra water or stock)
  • 500g passata (plus 100ml water to swill out the bottle/carton).
  • 1 beef stock cube/stock pot
  • 35g tomato puree
  • ⅛ – ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional).
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 fresh or dry bay leaf
  • 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon dried thyme)
  • ¼ teaspoon fine salt, or more, to taste
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • parmesan rind, if you have one
  • ¼ – ½ teaspoon sugar, if necessary

Pasta:

  • 8 sheets of dried lasagne - make sure they do not need to be boiled first

Topping:

  • 250g mascarpone cheese
  • 75ml milk, ideally full fat but semi-skimmed will be fine too.
  • 30g grated Parmesan, divided.
  • 125g ball of mozzarella.
  • ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt flakes (or to taste)
  • some freshly ground black pepper
  • a little freshly grated nutmeg

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 (fan 180°C). You will also need a deep 10 – 12 inch cast iron or oven-proof pan.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. Next add the minced beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you cook it. Cook until lightly browned. Around another 5 minutes.

  6. Add the wine and cook on high until reduced by half. Scrape up the sticky residue left by cooking the beef and the vegetables, as you cook.

  7. Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan. Stir well and bring to a gentle simmer. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove the bay leaf, fresh thyme twigs and the parmesan rind, if using.

  8. 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.

  9. Layer: break 4 sheets of lasagne in half and push them under the surface of the pasta sauce, trying to distribute them evenly throughout.

  10. 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.

  11. 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.

  12. 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.

  13. 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.

Recipe Notes

 

More details on ingredients and instructions:

Please see the ingredient list and the instructions in the post above, for further information.

Equipment:

  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • chopping board and knife
  • food processor
  • deep 10 – 12 inch cast iron or oven-proof pan.