LASAGNE PER 4 PERSONI
The Ragu:

• 2 bottles of home made sauce (If you can't find home made, buy at shop)
• 300gm of good quality ground meat
• one onion
• one garlic
• one stalk of celery
• one carrot - medium size - grated
• a spoonful of sugar
• a good piece of pork - cut into small pieces
• an even better handfull of parsley
• a good helping of olive oil

What to do:
Okay. You take the onion, garlic, carrot and parsley. Cut up finely. And cook in a hot deep-based pot with a dash of olive oil.

Once onion becomes see through, add the meat and cook until brown on outside.

Take the two bottles of sauce, pour over the meat. Add the sugar, the celery and half a glass of water.

Cook over a slow flame for 30 minutes.

Five minutes here, ten minutes there. You cook until it starts to smell fantastic. Make sure it doesn't stick to the base of the pot or else the taste is affected and it turns to merda.

The Lasagne

• 12 sheets of home made pasta - if you don't have, buy from shop (it just means you have too much time on your hands)
• a good helping of Regiano cheese - grated (good big flavour)
• 2 eggs - whisked together
• half a small mozzarella sliced thinly
• a small bowl of peas - cooked
• Bechamel Sauce
• three quarters of a litre of milk
• 2 heaped spoonfuls of flour - plain
• 125gm of butter (not margarine, okay, no good)
• then put it all together - but you have to do it in the right order

1) Cook up the sheets of pasta - make sure they remain al dente. Then place them out to cool and leave

2) Make the Bechamel Sauce. Carefully.

• Warm the milk until it's just below boiling point. Leave.
• melt the butter in a pan
• when ready and about to bubble, put in the flour
• mix well, really well with spoon or spatula - don't let it brown or discolour, this is a white sauce not a brown one
• pour in the hot milk
• whisk and bring to boiling point
• the sauce will thicken - not too thick, not too thin - just right, okay?

3) Now comes the fun part.

• Cover the bottom of a deep, rectangular oven tray with a layer of pasta
• On top pour the sauce and meat
• On top of that add peas
• On top of that, thin slices of mozzarella
• On top of that pour some Bechamel Sauce
• On top of that sprinkle the grated Regiano
• Place another layer to cover this and start all over again.

Once you have finished, the top layer should have a cover of sauce and then add pour on a thin layer of the whisked eggs. This helps it develop a really good, brown top to look very nice. But the taste is magnificent.

Okay, you now place in the oven for 35 minutes. Make the oven moderately hot. Once ready, allow to cool for 10 minutes or else it will be all runny.

Torta di Ricotta
2 cups of self raising flour
5 spoonfuls of milk
150 grams of butter
100 grams of sugar
4 eggs whisked lightly
a pinch of cinnamon
lemon rind grated finely
large container of ricotta (500 grams)
grated chocolate
vanilla bean

For the base, put 50 grams sugar, the milk, flour in a bowl. Mix together while folding in half of the eggs. Mix until stiff. Believe me you'll know when it's ready.

Grab a shallow dish, and brush the base with butter so that it doesn't stick. Then fold in the mixture and push it up against the edges and along the base. It should easily stay up in place. I normally use a little spoon to help with this. Sprinkle a little flour across the base, just to hold it together.

Now put it into a warm oven (180) for about 15 minutes while you are doing the next bit.

Okay, now the good part.

Let's tip the ricotta into a bowl, add the rest of the sugar, the pinch of cinnamon, the grated lemon, the vanilla pods, and grate some chocolate into the mixture. Mix it together well, taste for sweetness.

If you are happy and you need to be happy with this, then pour it into the case, sprinkle crushed almonds over the top and place it back into the oven for another half hour.