Jamie Oliver's Lasagne in the Air Fryer

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

This is Jamie Oliver's take on a traditional lasagne al forno. The ragu is built on smoked pancetta, soffritto and a mix of minced pork and beef, stretched with lentils and slow-cooked with red wine and plum tomatoes. The white sauce is made with leek-infused butter, flour and milk, then blitzed smooth and enriched with cheddar, Parmesan and smoked mozzarella. Layered with fresh pasta sheets and baked until bubbling.

Ingredients

• smoked pancetta, finely sliced
• bay leaves
• garlic cloves
• fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• carrots, finely chopped
• celery sticks, finely chopped
• red onions, finely chopped
• minced pork shoulder
• minced beef
• sea salt
• black pepper, freshly ground
• 0.5 wholewhole nutmeg, grated
• 2 small glassesred wine
• lentils
• tinned plum tomatoes

• 50 gunsalted butter
• 1 wholeleek, trimmed
• 4 heaped tbspplain flour
• 1 litrewhole milk
• mature cheddar, grated (add late)
• Parmesan, grated (add late)
• smoked mozzarella, torn (add late)

• fresh lasagne sheets
• extra grated cheese to finish (add late)

Method

1. Finely slice the smoked pancetta and add to a large dry pan over medium heat. Let it sizzle and render.

   ~3 min

2. Add the bay leaves and garlic. Pick the rosemary leaves and add those too.

   ~1 min

3. Add the finely chopped carrots, celery and red onions and fry for around 5 minutes until softening.

   ~5 min

4. Push the veg to one side of the pan and add the minced pork first, then the minced beef. Break the meat up and let the moisture cook off so the mince begins to colour.

   ~10 min

5. Season with salt, a generous amount of black pepper and grate in half a nutmeg.

   ~1 min

6. Pour in two small glasses of red wine and let it bubble away.

   ~2 min

7. Add the lentils, then the tinned plum tomatoes. Fill the empty tins with water and add that too. Simmer gently for about 1 hour 30 minutes, until rich and thick.

   ~90 min

8. For the white sauce, melt 50g butter in a pan, add the trimmed leek and let it sizzle to flavour the butter.

   ~3 min

9. Stir in 4 heaped tablespoons of flour, then pour in 1 litre of milk. Bring to the boil, stirring, until thickened.

   ~8 min

10. Tilt the pan and blend the sauce with a stick blender until silky smooth, leek and all.

    ~2 min

11. Stir in the cheddar, then the Parmesan, then the smoked mozzarella until melted and stringy.

    ~2 min

12. To assemble, spread two ladles of ragu in the base of an air-fryer-safe dish. Cover with a layer of fresh pasta sheets, then spoon over some white sauce. Repeat the layers until everything is used up, finishing with white sauce and a final scatter of cheese.

    ~5 min

13. Preheat the air fryer to 160°C. Cover the lasagne loosely with foil and cook for 20 minutes, then remove the foil and cook for a further 10 minutes until golden and bubbling.

    ~30 min

14. Rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing so the pasta relaxes and you get a clean cut.

    ~7 min

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