Brotherly Games: Goat Cheese Lasagna

  My friend Valentin is writing Brotherly Games, including descriptions of the fantastic French cuisine. As an added bonus, here is the first recipe you can make on your own in order to get more into the feel of the story. You can follow Valentin here

From Chapter 5, as Henri made for himself and George:

Goat Cheese Lasagna

Ingredients for four persons; 

For the bolognese: 

• 500 grams of Minced beef meat. 

• 1 Onion. 

• 1 Garlic clove. 

• Extra virgin olive oil. 

• 4 Peeled Roma tomatoes. (Or tomato paste)

• Dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary.

For the béchamel: 

• Valençay goat cheese. (unless you're in France you probably won't find it in a supermarket,

• so you can either buy it in a cheese shop or replace it with a goat cheese bar.)

• 60 grams of flour.

• 50 grams of (preferably salted) butter. 

• 50 cl of milk. 

For the Lasagna: 

• Lasagna pasta. (I recommend Barilla.) 

• Parmigiano powder. (Can be replaced with Gran padamo, or Pecorino.)

1st step. 

Chop the onion and fry it with extra virgin olive oil in a large frying pan. When the onions are caramelized,

add the minced meat and stir. 

Chop the garlic clove and add it to the meat. 

2nd step. 

When the meat is cooked, chop the peeled roma tomatoes and add them in the frying pan. 

Add some dried oregano, thyme, and rosemary. Stir and let the bolognese sauce cool. 

3rd step. 

Slice the goat cheese in small cubes. 

In a sauce pan, melt 50 grams of butter. When the butter has melted, progressively add the 60 grams

of flour while you stir. 

Let it cook on low heat for 1-2 minutes. Then add the milk progressively while stirring. 

When the 50cl of milk have been added, and the sauce is getting thicker, add the sliced goat cheese. 

When the goat cheese is fully melted, take the sauce pan out of the fire and let it cool. 

4th step. 

In a large rectangle Lasagna dish, lay one layer of the Lasagna pasta on the bottom of the dish

until they cover the whole bottom of the dish. 

Add the first layer of bolognese sauce, use only half of the sauce you have. 

On top of the bolognese layer, add ⅓ of your bechamel. Cover the bechamel with another layer of

Lasagne pasta. 

Repeat the process for the second layer, using the second half of your bolognese sauce, then the

second third of your bechamel, and cover it with your third layer of Lasagna pasta. 

On top of the last layer of Lasagna pasta, add your last third of bechamel to cover the pasta. 

When the bechamel covers the whole pasta, add a generous amount of parmigiano powder on top of it. 

5th step. 

Let the Lasagna cook in the oven for 40 minutes in a 210 degree Celsius convection mode. 

When the Lasagna is cooked, let it cool for at least 45 minutes before serving. 

Bon appétit!