Potato Bolognese lasagna à la Heike

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 5 m.-sized carrot(s)
• 1 stalk(s) leek
• 2 stalks celery
• 1 onion(s), red
• 2 garlic cloves
• some olive oil
• 500 g minced meat, mixed
• salt and pepper
• Paprika powder, sweet
• nutmeg
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 125 ml white wine
• 500 g tomatoes, pureed
• 1 can of pizza tomatoes, 425 g
• 5 large potatoes
• 30 g butter
• 30 g flour
• 350 ml milk
• salt and pepper
• nutmeg
• 8 slices of cheese (Chester)

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 30 minutes

For the Bolognese sauce, peel or trim the carrots, leeks, celery, onions, and garlic cloves and roughly chop them in a hand blender. Add olive oil to a pan, fry the minced meat until crumbly, and season with salt, pepper, paprika, and nutmeg. Add the chopped vegetables and fry briefly. Stir the tomato paste and sugar into the mixture and let it caramelize briefly. Deglaze with white wine. Add the passata and pizza tomatoes to the pan and mix everything. Simmer for about 2 hours. If the sauce becomes too dry, add a little water if necessary. In the meantime, prepare the béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan, sprinkle in the flour, and mix. Add the milk, stirring constantly. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Bring the sauce to a boil and remove from the heat. Peel the potatoes and cut them lengthwise into thin slices. Grease a baking dish. Cover the bottom of the dish with Bolognese sauce. Place a layer of potato slices on top. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Arrange two slices of cheese in chunks on top of the potato slices. Then add more Bolognese and béchamel sauce, another layer of potato slices, and so on. Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake in the oven at 210°C for approximately 50-60 minutes. The time depends on the thickness of the potato slices. Cook the lasagna without the foil for the last 10 minutes. Jacket potatoes are not suitable, as they do not absorb the flavor of the sauce like raw potatoes.