This is what I make for my children’s birthday celebrations, for farewell suppers to send them off before they go away, and for the dinners to welcome them back when they come home again. It’s our family take on a traditional lasagne, though I’m not sure Italians would exactly welcome my deviations from the classical recipe. For one thing, I don’t make my own lasagne sheets; while I have in the past, I now routinely use dried ones out of a packet and, what’s more, I don’t boil them first. In order, then, to ensure they soften properly, I make a slightly more liquid meat sauce than is customary and, rather than have a covering of béchamel at the end, I finish with a layer of meat sauce, topped with chopped mozzarella on top. None of this is proper from a North Italian perspective, but the lasagne it yields is pleasure-giving and gratifyingly popular. I can’t say that this is exactly faff-free to make: but it is time-consuming rather than difficult. I adore pottering about the kitchen making it. What’s more, you can layer it up (bar the mozzarella topping) in advance (see notes) and bake when needed. And I make this even if there isn’t a whole tableful of people to eat it; I freeze leftovers in individual portions, to make for most superior ready-meals at a later date. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
