Jamie Oliver Lasagne (Slow Cooker Ragu)

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Jamie's hob ragu simmers for 90 minutes; the slow cooker takes that simmer and gives it 4 low hours, which means richer flavour and walk-away time. The hob build-up stays unchanged: pancetta and rosemary in oil first, soffritto of carrots, celery and red onions for 5 minutes, then pork and beef mince browned hard for 10 minutes with salt, pepper and grated nutmeg, two small glasses of red wine, then a tin of lentils (Jamie's stretch trick: indistinguishable from mince in the finished sauce) and tinned plum tomatoes plus a tin of water. Once the slow cooker is doing its thing, build the white sauce on the hob, leek sweated in butter, four heaped tablespoons of flour, a litre of milk, blitzed smooth, then cheddar, parmesan and smoked mozzarella stirred through. Layer ragu, fresh pasta, white sauce, repeat. 40 minutes at 180°C finishes it.

Ingredients

• smoked pancetta, finely sliced
• 2 leavesbay leaves
• garlic cloves, sliced
• fresh rosemary, leaves stripped, finely chopped

• carrots, finely diced
• celery stalks, finely diced
• red onions, finely diced

• minced shoulder of pork
• beef mince
• fine salt and black pepper
• 0.5 nutmeg (grated)whole nutmeg, freshly grated

• 2 small glasses (200 ml total)red wine (small glasses)
• 1 tin (400 g)tinned cooked lentils, drained
• tinned plum tomatoes

• 50 gunsalted butter
• 1 leekleek, washed, finely sliced
• 4 heaped tbspplain flour
• 1 litrewhole milk

• mature cheddar, grated
• parmesan, finely grated
• smoked mozzarella, torn or grated

• fresh lasagne sheets

Method

1. Warm a wide pan with a glug of olive oil over a medium heat. Add the finely sliced pancetta and the bay leaves and fry for 2-3 minutes until the bacon is starting to colour.

   ~3 min

2. Add the sliced garlic and the chopped rosemary and fry for another 30 seconds.

   ~1 min

3. Add the diced carrots, celery and red onions. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, until softening.

   ~5 min

4. Push the veg to one side. Add the pork mince first, then the beef mince. Break it up with a wooden spoon and cook hard for about 10 minutes, until the water from the meat has evaporated and the mince is taking real colour.

   ~10 min

5. Season with salt, be generous with pepper, and grate over half a nutmeg.

   ~1 min

6. Pour in the two small glasses of red wine and let it bubble down by half, about 2 minutes.

   ~2 min

7. Add the drained tin of lentils and the tinned plum tomatoes. Fill each tomato tin with water and pour into the pan. Stir to break up the plums.

   ~2 min

8. Tip everything into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours, or high for 2 hours. After 3 hours, if the sauce looks loose, crack the lid for the final hour to thicken.

   ~240 min

9. About 30 minutes before assembly, make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a wide pan over a medium heat, add the sliced leek and sweat for 4-5 minutes until soft.

   ~5 min

10. Sprinkle in the flour and stir for 1 minute. Slowly pour in the milk, whisking continuously to keep it smooth, and bring up to a gentle simmer until thickened.

    ~8 min

11. Tip the white sauce into a blender (or use a stick blender) and blitz until smooth. Return to the pan and stir through the cheddar, parmesan and smoked mozzarella until melted.

    ~3 min

12. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas 4 / 350°F. Assemble the lasagne in a large oven dish: two ladles of ragu on the base, pasta sheets to cover (break to fit), a layer of white sauce. Repeat until you run out, finishing with white sauce and a kiss of cheese on top.

    ~10 min

13. Bake for 40-45 minutes until golden, bubbling at the edges and a knife slides through the pasta easily. Rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting (or don't, if you can't wait).

    ~45 min

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