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Prepare the dough first.
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Put the semolina (or bread) flour into a bowl, and make a well in the middle.
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In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, olive oil (or vegetable oil), and salt well.
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Pour this mixture into the well in the flour.
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Gradually incorporate the flour while mixing in the egg mixture.
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6
When the dough is more or less combined, knead it into a ball with your hands.
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Even if it is flaky and rough, it's fine as long as it is collected into a single mass.
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Bring the dough together and flatten it a bit.
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Wrap the dough in plastic wrap or put it into a plastic bag.
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Seal the bag or wrap well, and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 2 hours.
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11
While the dough is resting, prepare the bechamel sauce and meat sauce.
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Let's start with the easy meat sauce....
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Finely mince the garlic and carrot, then chop the onion a bit more roughly.
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Saute the chopped garlic with olive oil (or vegetable oil) in a frying pan until fragrant.
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Add the ground meat to the frying pan and saute it until browned.
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Add the carrot and onion and saute well.
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Do this over high heat, taking care not to let it burn.
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When the moisture has cooked out, add the sake, soy sauce, and soup stock and continue sauteing.
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Stir in the can of diced tomatoes.
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When tomatoes are well incorporated, add enough water to cover all of the ingredients, plus the Japanese-style Worcestershire sauce and ketchup.
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Stir well, and continue cooking over high heat to reduce the sauce rapidly.
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Continue stirring while occasionally crushing the tomatoes with a ladle or a wooden spatula.
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When the sauce has reduced so that there's little liquid left in the pan, taste, and add the salt and pepper or Krazy Salt to taste!
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Adjust the seasoning to taste and it's done!
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This is a simple and easy meat sauce.
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Now, let's make the bechamel sauce.
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Put the butter or margarine in a frying pan or a pot, and melt it over low heat.
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Add the consomme soup stock granules.
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Stir to dissolve the consomme soup stock granules in the butter or margarine.
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When that's done, add 2 tablespoons out of the 5 tablespoons of flour.
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Stir it into the butter or margine until it has melted in completely.
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Next, add 2 more tablespoons of flour and mix it in evenly.
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Add the final tablespoon of flour and mix it in completely.
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When the roux is blended, add the milk in several batches, stirring until smooth between additions.
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Continue adding until all of the milk is incorporated.
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Continue to mix away!
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When the sauce is smooth and creamy, it's done!
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If you still have some undissolved lumps, add a little more milk.
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Taste, and season with salt and pepper.
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The easy bechamel sauce is done.
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It should ideally be rather thick.
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Don't make the meat sauce or the bechamel sauce too salty.
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The lasagna will be topped with lots of cheese, so it will taste fine in the end.
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After the dough has rested for 2 hours, take it out of the refrigerator, put it on a sheet of parchment paper, and divide it into 2 portions.
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Return one half to the plastic wrap or bag.
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Knead the other half a little to relax it.
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It will be quite pretty stiff, so press down hard!
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48
Knead the dough until smooth (on the surface), then press it out with your palms to flatten it a bit.
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The dough will be stiff, so you need a lot of strength...Press and roll hard with a rolling pin.
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50
Roll it out to a 1 mm thickness.
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51
Don't worry about the shape of the dough too much; just continue rolling it out until it's 1 mm thick.
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When the dough is rolled out, cut it so it's a little smaller than the casserole or lasagna pan you're using.
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You don't have to make it too exact!
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Just cut it approximately without worrying about fitting it perfectly.
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The cut off end pieces will be used later.
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Roll out the other half of the dough in the same way.
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Once the dough is rolled out, boil it.
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Bring water to a boil in a large frying pan or pot, and add about 1 tablespoon of oil.
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Mix the water and oil, then add the dough and boil it.
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The dough will float to the surface; the boiling time depends on the thickness and size of the dough sheets...
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For a thin and translucent noodle that floats to the surface, it should boil for about 3 minutes or so.
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If it's 1 mm thick, cook for about 4 minutes, and it's 2 mm thick or so, cook for 5 to 6 minutes.
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Ideally, for the most authentic results, the dough should fit the baking dish exactly!
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But that's a bit hard to achieve, so you can cut it in half to fit.
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Boil the cut off end pieces of the noodles, too.
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These will be used like puzzle pieces in the lasagna.
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The boiling times for the noodles are for reference only.
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To be sure, cut off a bit of the thickest part and test the cut piece for doneness!
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If the noodles are still floury and uncooked in the middle, they are done.
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Once the noddles are cooked, rinse them briefly in cold water and drain in a colander.
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Once you have the meat sauce, bechamel sauce, and lasagna noddles ready, preheat the oven to 250 C!
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Grease the inside of the dish you'll be using to bake the lasagna with a little butter or margarine (not listed in the ingredient list).
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Start with a layer of bechamel sauce, followed by a layer of meat sauce.
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Add a bit more meat sauce than bechamel sauce!
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If you are using a dish of about the size specified here, you should be able to make about 4 layers total.
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It might be best to divide the sauce into 4 portions beforehand.
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Add a layer of noodles after the meat sauce layer!
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Repeat the layers.
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Even if the lasagna noodles are in pieces, you can fit them together like a puzzle without any gaps as shown.
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Since the lasagna noodles become thicker when they're cooked; if you roll them out 1 mm thick as a base, even if the sheets are not perfectly rectangular they can still be used.
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Since this is an easy casual lasagna, don't worry about making it perfectly.
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Keep layering in the ingredients, from the bechamel sauce to the meat sauce.
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Top with the pizza cheese.
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Melting-type sliced cheese may also work.
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Add as much cheese as you like.
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86
When I added the last layer of meat sauce, my casserole was filled to the brim!
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If you add a bit less, leaving space at the top of your casserole dish, the cheese won't bubble over when it's baked.
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Bake in an oven preheated to 250 C for around 15 minutes, keeping an eye on it until the surface is crispy and browned.
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When it has browned evenly on the surface, it's done.
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Sprinkle with dried parsley to taste.
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Here is a view from the side...
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The cut side is also well defined.
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If you want to make more dough, use 1 egg per 100 g of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of oil.
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The first time you make this, you might get slightly confused about some of the steps...so try it out when you have some time to spare.
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It's surprisingly easy to make.
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If your noodle sheets do not have an even thickness and the thicker parts float up to the surface as you're cooking them, open a few holes in the dough with chopsticks, and it will cook faster.
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The dough is so firm and chewy that you shouldn't need any flour for dusting, but if it looks like it will stick as you work it, use a little flour.