Definately the best lasagne in the world!

Unfortunately I can't claim this as my recipe - it belongs to Francesco Mazzei and I've been making it regularly ever since I saw him make it on "Perfect" which I think is one of the best original shows the Good Food Channel has produced.    It's called Lasagne Pastachina.

I will admit upfront, that there are a lot of processes - it's definately not an after work supper - unless you make extra for the freezer ;-)  but it is sooooo delicious that it really is worth it.  Apparently it's a "Sunday" or special occassion lasagne in Italy.  It consists of a 3 meat ragu, the same three meats as teeny-tiny meatballs, aubergines and hardboiled eggs, cheese and bechamel.   I know the hb egg sounds a bit left field but believe me, it just adds so much, and the aubergine makes the whole dish so much lighter and fresher than a standard lasagne and the meatballs add texture to what can sometimes be a bit of a toothless dish.

See the link to the original recipe - the only alteration I've made is that I made the meatballs really tiny to ease cutting and when pushed for time I've cheated with a ready made cheese sauce.  The one thing you mustn't miss is the flouring of the aubergine - not something I'd ever considered before but it mades a huge difference to their texture.  Once you've made your ragu and your meatballs, fried the aubergine and boiled and slice the eggs its simply a case of assembly.  Remembering not to go too mad with any of the ingredients - you want to get at least 4 or 5 layers of pasta in.

The layers will be a bit on the bumpy side, with the chunks of aubergine and the meatballs but dont' worry that just adds to the charm.  Finish with bechamel and cheese - bake and then sit back and devour with a nice green salad - trust me you WON'T be dissappointed!!!!   Let's just call it a belated Christmas gift shall we ;-)