​I love my fast and quick spaghetti puttanesca recipe that I already have on my site here, it is great on those nights when you need a quick and easy dinner. But here I have a different pasta sauce, one that is like a puttanesca, but with the addition of lots of vegetables and one that cooks long and slow.

I found this one while on our Eating Around the World Adventure in Italy. I am starting to appreciate more and more the simplicity of Italian cooking, and I am learning to truly enjoy meat free meals. Now I am not planning on becoming vegetarian, as I do enjoy eating meat, however, a few meat free days a month is actually something I am beginning to enjoy.

So here is another meat free pasta sauce that is full of flavour that I hope you will love as much as we do.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook Everyday Pasta

Serves 4-6

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt, to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste
800g tin diced tomatoes
1 dried bay leaf
8 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
2 tablespoons drained capers
1 teaspoon crushed red chilli flakes
450g penne pasta
3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
​
In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes. Add the celery, carrot and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Saute until all the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes longer.

Add the tomatoes and bay leaf, and simmer uncovered over low heat until the sauce thickens, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Add 1 cup water if the sauce gets too thick. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
​
Place the finely chopped anchovies and some of their oil in a medium frying pan. Stir over medium heat until the anchovies melt, about 2 minutes. Add the olives, capers, remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper and the red chilli flakes. Saute until the olives are heated through, about 2 minutes. Stir the olive mixture into the tomato sauce and simmer over medium heat until the flavours blend, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if needed.
​
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Add the penne and cook until tender, but still firm to the bite, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, about 10 minutes, follow packet instructions. Drain, reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Add the penne to the sauce and toss to coat, adding enough of the reserved pasta water to moisten. Transfer the pasta to a large serving bowl. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

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​During our Eating Around the world adventure in Italy, I had to include a risotto.

Now I love mushrooms, so a mushroom risotto was always going to happen. This was delicious, it was creamy and it definitely had enough mushroom flavour.

As I quite enjoy having a meat free dinner at least once a week, this risotto was perfect for it.

I love it with chicken or vegetable stock, both are delicious. Boil water in a kettle, just in case you need to add a little extra liquid to your risotto. 

If you can't find dried chanterelle mushroom, just add more dried porcini mushrooms as they are more readily available.  

This is simple, yet delicious, something my family loves, hope you do to.

Recipe adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly Cookbook 'World Table Recipes from around the world'

Serves 4

​15g dried chanterelle mushroom
15g dried porcini mushrooms
1 litre (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
2 cups (500ml) water
45g butter
125g chestnut mushrooms, trimmed
125g button mushrooms, sliced thickly
2 flat mushrooms (160g), halved, sliced thickly
4 shallots (100g), chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups arborio rice
1/2 cup (125ml) white wine
1/2 cup (40g) finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh chives
​
Combine chanterelle and porcini mushrooms, stock and the water in a medium saucepan; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer covered.
​
Meanwhile, melt 30g of the butter in a large saucepan; add remaining mushrooms to pan. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms are tender and liquid evaporates; remove from pan.
​
Melt remaining butter in the same pan; cook shallots and garlic, stirring, until shallots soften. Add rice; stir to coat rice in butter mixture. Return mushrooms cooked in butter to the pan with the wine; bring to the boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, until liquid has almost evaporated.

Add 1 cup of simmering stock mixture; cook, stirring, over low heat, until stock is absorbed. Continue adding stock mixture, in 1 cup batches, stirring, until absorbed between additions. Total cooking time should be about 25 minutes or until rice is tender. You may need to add a little extra boiled water from the kettle if rice needs a little more cooking.

​Stir in cheese and chives. Serve immediately.

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​My mother in law makes these when we go on holidays to visit them, they are like dumplings. Now this is an old recipe from Croatia and although my mother in law calls them trgance, they do actually go by the name žličnjaci or some they are flour gnocchi.

My husband and kids love them. So when my sister in law came to visit us once, she showed me how to make them. She doesn't measure anything when she makes them, it is all done by feel, I however, weigh everything every time, for me it ensures they turn out right every time. 

This is great when you don't have pasta in the house, it's quick to make and feeds many.

I use a fork, but you can use a spoon.

So if you are looking to try something new, give these a try, my family love them, hope yours will to.

​Drop the dough into the boiling water by putting the dough and fork prongs into the boiling water, the dough will slide off and this way the fork stays hot, repeat until all the dough is used up, cook for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through.

Strain in a colander and place in a serving dish. ​

Strain in a colander and place in a serving dish. ​

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​These are delicious. Now I love plain polenta chips, but when I saw this version with mushrooms in it, I had to try it, and I am so glad I did, they are delicious.

My mother has always cooked polenta, it is truly a food from my childhood, and any left over polenta she would always cut up the next day and fry for us. I loved it. Now she didn't make chip shapes, but it was the same. But many times she would cook polenta on a Sunday for lunch and she would stir bacon and a homemade tomato sauce through it. We would eat that for lunch, but any leftovers she would spread out and then fry in squares for us to enjoy the next day.

When making the polenta, have a kettle full of boiled water ready, if your polenta while cooking feels too thick, you can add a little boiling water to it,  to loosen it up, if needed.

The reason I say to taste when adding parsley, is because although I love parsley, I don't like when there is too much of it. The original recipe stated to use one bunch of parsley, I would use maybe 2-3 tablespoons of chopped parsley, at most.

So if you love polenta, like I do, I'm sure these will become a favourite in your house, like it is mine.

Recipe adapted from Manuela Darling-Gansser's cookbook 'Winter in the Alps'

Makes about 30 pieces

Polenta:
1.5 litres water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
​300g coarse polenta

Mushrooms:
25g unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6 anchovies, finely chopped
​Italian flat leaf parsley, to taste, finely chopped
200g mixed mushrooms, finely chopped
15g dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in a little boiling water for 15 minutes, then drained and finely sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste

150g unsalted butter, for frying
15 fresh sage leaves
​

Make the polenta: Put the water and salt in a large pot and bring to the boil. Add polenta in a steady stream, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Turn the heat down to low and cook the polenta for 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time. When the polenta comes away from the sides of the pot, it is cooked.

Meanwhile, prepare the mushrooms. Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan and cook the onion until it begins to soften, then add the garlic, anchovies and parsley and cook for a further few minutes. Add all the mushrooms and continue cooking until soft. Taste for salt (remembering that the anchovies will have added some already) and add pepper, to taste.

Stir the mixture into the cooked polenta, combining well. 

Pour the polenta onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, spread the polenta to about 1 1/2cm thick. Leave to cool.
​
​Preheat the oven to 120C/100C fan forced. 

Cut the cooled polenta into 5cm x 2.5cm pieces.

Working in batches. Heat some butter in a frying pan and add a few sage leaves. Fry the polenta pieces until golden brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the polenta chips to paper towels and drain. Place the polenta chips on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batches, using more of the butter and sage as you go.

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​These are delicious. I'm going to say they are better than potato chips.

My mother has always cooked polenta, it is truly a food from my childhood, and any left over polenta she would always cut up the next day and fry for us. I loved it. Now she didn't make chip shapes, but it was the same.

Recently during our Eating Around the World Adventure in Italy, I came across polenta chips and it took me back to my childhood. I had to make it.

Now making polenta is labour intensive, you get an arm workout like no other. My mum, in her 70's now, still mixes the polenta from start to finish on her own, I however enlist the help of my son who's 18. and we take turns stirring the polenta for the 30-45 minutes needed to cook it properly.  So I will suggest making the polenta chips with left over polenta as you then get two meals with the work from one. So the first night I would serve it with a stew, as soon as you are done eating and while the polenta is still hot and spreadable, pour it into a baking tray lined with baking paper, ready for polenta chips tomorrow. My mother would never use instant polenta, she says it's no where near the same.

Also have a kettle full of boiled water ready, if your polenta while cooking feels too thick, you can add a little boiling water to it,  to loosen it up, if needed.

Pictured above, to the left the polenta chips have semolina on them, the right side is without semolina. If you don't normally cook with semolina, don't buy it just for this recipe, but if you do use it, then use the semolina here, both ways are delicious.

The tomato sauce I love is my go to pizza sauce, it takes about 10 minutes to make and we love it.

So if you love polenta, like I do, I'm sure these will become a favourite in your house, like it is mine.

Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis' cookbook 'Everyday Italian'

Makes about 30 pieces

Polenta:
1.5 litres water
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
​300g coarse polenta

1/2 cup light olive oil, for frying
Fine Semolina, for dusting, optional
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for sprinkling optional
​
1 cup Homemade ​Tomato Sauce, for serving, optional


Make the polenta: Put the water and salt in a large pot and bring to the boil. Add polenta in a steady stream, whisking constantly to avoid lumps. Turn the heat down to low and cook the polenta for 30-45 minutes, stirring from time to time. When the polenta comes away from the sides of the pot, it is cooked.

Pour the polenta onto a baking tray lined with baking paper, spread the polenta to about 1 1/2cm thick. Leave to cool.

​Preheat the oven to 120C/100C fan forced. 

Cut the cooled polenta into 5 x 2.5cm pieces. If you are using the semolina, dust each polenta chip with the semolina.

In a large frying pan, heat the light olive oil over a medium-high heat. Working in batches, fry the polenta pieces until golden brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the polenta chips to paper towels and drain. Place the polenta chips on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and keep warm in the oven while cooking the remaining batches.

​Place the polenta chips on a serving platter with the Tomato Sauce, if using.
​
Season with salt flakes and parmesan cheese, if using.

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​This dish is from Savoy in the Alps of France. It is comfort food, it is delicious, it is probably my favourite potato bake ever.

I will never stop making it this, it is truly delicious. It is a potato bake made with the addition of speck, onions, garlic, thyme, wine and cream, how could this be bad.

Now as I was cooking with what I had in the house I used fontina cheese. But even if you chose to use reblochon, it is not going to be easy to find at your local supermarket, some countries don't even have it. You can substitute it with a brie or camembert or in Australia L'artisan the mountain man cheese. Alternately, you could use raclette, I do love it baked, and I think the flavor would also work well in this dish. Basically you can use whatever cheese you love, that melts well.

This is delicious, I served it as a side to barbecued a barbecued steak and with a green salad and it was a perfect dinner for me.

​Recipe adapted from www.delicious.com.au/recipes 

Serves 6
1.5kg chat potatoes, scrubbed
300g speck or bacon, cut into strips
3 large eschalots, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 thyme sprigs, leaves picked
1/3 cup (80ml) dry white wine
1/2 cup (125ml) pouring cream
250g reblochon cheese or camembert, or raclette or fontina


Place the potato in a pan of cold, salted water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender. Drain, then cool slightly and thickly slice.
​
​Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190°C/170C fan forced. Place speck in a frypan over medium heat and cook for 3 minutes or until the fat has rendered. Add the eschalot and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened.
​
Add the garlic and thyme to the pancetta mixture, then cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add the wine, then bring to a simmer and remove from the heat. Stir in the cream, then add the potato and gently stir to combine. Season, then transfer mixture to a 20cm x 30cm ovenproof dish.

If using a soft cheese like reblochon or camembert, cut the cheese in half horizontally to make 2 discs, then cut each disc in half to make 4 semi circles. Place cheese on top of the potato mixture.

If using a firmer cheese like a raclette or fontina, grate the cheese to cover the potato mixture.

Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

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​Krpice sa Zeljem simply translates to Rags with Cabbage. Now obviously I don't eat rags, but the pasta used  here is the rags part of this dish.

I was first introduced to this recipe by my mother in law in Croatia and I loved it. It is one of those dishes from the past when meat wasn't consumed as much as it is today and the people in the villages had to feed there family on a budget. This dish is cheap to make and feeds many, the recipe is easily doubled.

I made this yesterday for lunch as we are all home due to self imposed isolation, I had 1/2 a large cabbage in the fridge and I had some pasta. I didn't think  my kids would like it, but I thought I'd give it a go regardless as I love it. But to my surprise my kids loved it, they ate it all.

This is a great recipe when you have cabbage in the fridge and you need to use it up. The pasta I used and loved was mafaldine, also known as mafalda or reginette (meaning little queens) it is long wide flat pasta ribbons, like pappardelle, with scalloped or ruffled edges. I just roughly broke it up into 4cm pieces and it became my krpice.

​You can make your own pasta dough and cut out squares of krpice if you preferred, my mother in law does.

Here is a link to one of my favourite singers Sanja Dolezal making this dish.

So here is a lunch idea that my family loves, hope yours does to.

​Recipe adapted from kuhari.com/ 

Serves 4

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 whole green cabbage, core removed, shredded
1 brown onion, thinly sliced
300g mafaldine pasta, broken into roughly 4cm pieces
2-3 teaspoons raw sugar
Salt and pepper, to taste
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, to taste
​
Add olive oil to a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion, saute for 3-4 minutes until translucent. Add 2 teaspoons of the sugar, stir until melted.

Add cabbage, season with salt and pepper, saute, stirring regularly, the cabbage for 10-15 minutes over low-medium heat.  After 5 minutes of cooking, I start adding in a little extra virgin olive oil, a tablespoon at a time, until it has added flavour and more oil when needed. Taste for seasoning and add the last teaspoon of sugar if you would like it a little sweeter.

Meanwhile cook the broken pasta rags following packet instructions. Drain once cooked.

Once the cabbage has wilted, but still has a bite to it. Add in the pasta, add a little more extra virgin olive oil, if needed.

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​Our Eating Around the World Adventure sure has been an exciting one. I have been trying new recipes, cooking things I have never tried before, like these Semolina Gnocchi.

I had never tried semolina until I got married, my mother in law made dumplings out of it. So even though I had tried semolina, I was a little nervous serving these gnocchi, as I wasn't sure if my family would love it.

Well, they did, this was delicious, this is comfort food, it was far better than I thought it would be. 

I loved it as is, but I also served it with a tomato sauce for those that wanted to add the sauce. 

​You can add less butter if you choose.

Now you cut out rounds to make the gnocchi, but with all the off cuts, I just put them in a separate baking dish and baked those to. Now you wouldn't serve that to guests, but my family did not care about the weird shapes, they ate the off cuts to.

This is easy and cheap to make, something you really should try.

Recipe adapted from Antonio Carluccio's cookbook 'Pasta'

Serves 4-6

750ml milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
150g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
250g fine semolina
olive oil
2 medium eggs
150g parmesan cheese, freshly grated
A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, optional
​
Put the milk in a large saucepan and bring to the boil with a pinch of salt and 30g of the butter. Now pour the semolina in slowly, stirring, with a whisk, in order to avoid forming lumps, and cook, still stirring, though now you change to a spoon, for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
​
Now line with baking paper a large baking tray. Lightly oil the paper.

​Beat the eggs in a bowl with 20g of the parmesan and some salt and pepper.
​
Before the semolina becomes cold but when it is not still too hot, pour the egg mixture into the semolina pan and mix well. Now pour the semolina on to the oiled, prepared baking tray and spread with a spatula to about 2.5cm in height. Leave to get cold, you can refrigerate it.
​
Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

In the meantime, grease an ovenproof ceramic dish, about 26 x 20cm in size with butter. 

When the semolina is cold, cut out discs with a 4cm round pastry cutter.Lift these discs out and place in the greased dish, slightly overlapping them, until the dish is filled. (Put all offcuts in a separate dish, don't waste it). Sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan and the butter and the nutmeg, if using.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-30 minutes until the cheese on top melts and browns.

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​Carbonara, one of my absolute favourite pasta sauces. This is something my family love to eat. It is quick to make and is something I make when I don't feel like cooking.

Years ago I told my daughter that I didn't feel like cooking so we were having bacon and eggs for dinner, she replied, and she was probably only 8 years old at the time, isn't carbonara like bacon and eggs. So I made carbonara instead, and it's so easy that it wasn't a problem.
 
To add cream or not add cream, that is the question. Traditional carbonara does not have cream in the recipe, the egg mixture is what makes it creamy. This true version is amazing without the cream. I do have other recipes on my site that do add cream and they are delicious, but they are not true carbonara recipes.

If you follow the instructions precisely, you might not end up with scrambled eggs, which can happen. If by chance it does curdle, you can still eat it obviously, it just won't be the same. To stop it from curdling, just allow the pasta to cool slightly before adding the egg mixture.

​This is a great and inexpensive mid week meal, give it a try.

​500g spaghetti or spaghettoni
Salt and pepper, ta taste

Sauce:
50ml olive oil
100g smoked pancetta, cut into thin batons
3 medium whole eggs
3 medium egg, yolks
60g parmesan cheese, freshly grated


Put the oil in a large saucepan and fry the pancetta until crispy. Leave it in the pan.

In a bowl add the eggs and egg yolks, beat until well combined. Add the parmesan and season with ground black pepper. Season with a little salt, just remember parmesan is salty, so not too much.
​
 Meanwhile, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water following packet instructions, until al dente.

Lift from the water with pasta tongs and put into the warm pancetta pan, off the heat, with the pancetta and fat it released. The pasta shouldn't be too hot, so allow to cool, just for a minute or two. Then pour in the egg mixture, and mix well so that the egg adheres to the pasta, just coating it, without curdling it.

Serve with more freshly ground pepper, while still hot.

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​My family love lasagne and they love crepes, so why not add them together. 

This was delicious. The crepes are far lighter than lasagne sheets. The bolognese was lovely (but in all honesty you could use your own bolognese recipe, just make sure it thickens properly as the crepes unlike pasta sheets don't need to be cooked, so you need it thick, not liquidy). The bechamel is well, bechamel, most of them taste the same.

 This is a very cheesy lasagne, you can reduce the amount of cheese, if you like.

This is a great recipe when you can't buy lasagne sheets.

Now I already have a favourite bolognese and a favourite lasagne, and I could have just made that lasagne, just using crepes and I could have made this using my favourite bolognese recipe, also slow cooked. But when I try new things I like to try new recipes as I just don't like food when everything tastes the same.

Crepes: For me the first crepe is your tester, it rarely turns out great, as the pan is usually not hot enough. It is where you see if your mixture is too thick, if yes, add more milk, if it is too thin, add more flour, if your pan wasn't hot enough it will now heat up. The batter is only supposed to cover the base of the pan, so if you had too much mix with 3/4 of a ladle full, use less, or more if it wasn't enough-you can't have holes in your crepes.

You can add more or less fresh basil, as it is to taste.

You do need to wait 30 minutes to an hour before slicing a lasagne as you won't be able to slice it properly if you don't, but if you're okay with a sloppy, boiling hot mess, eat it straight away.

​So here you have another way to make lasgane, hope you enjoy it.

Recipe adapted from Daniela e Stefania's cookbook 'Saporito'

Serves 10-12
​
Bolognese:
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
250g pork mince
250g veal mince
400g tin diced tomatoes
2 x 680g bottles Italian tomato passata
8-10 fresh Basil leaves, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon vegeta, optional

Crepes: Makes 20 crepes
320g plain flour
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 litre milk
Canola cooking spray
​
Bechamel:
100g butter
100g plain flour
1 litre milk
salt and pepper, to taste
​
500g mozzarella
200g romano cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese


Bolognese: In a large saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil, onion and garlic, saute for 2 minutes. Add the carrot and celery, saute for 3-4 minutes.

Increase the heat to high and add the pork and beef mince, you need to brown the mince and break up all the lumps using a wooden spoon. Once the meat is browned and lump free, reduce the heat to medium and add the tinned tomatoes, the tomato passata and basil. Season with salt and pepper and add vegeta if using. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and let it cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. You can add more water if it is reducing too much.
​
Crepes: Make the pancakes: Place the eggs in a mixing bowl, add the flour. Add half of the milk; using a whisk, whisk until your mixture is lump free. Keep adding milk slowly until all the lumps have disappeared, then add remainder of milk, mix through. It is easier to get the lumps out, if the mixture is thick, so don't add all the milk in straight away. Leave to stand for 30 minutes. Strain the mix through a sieve to make them completely lump free-I however never do, more cleaning up, and a few tiny lumps don't make a difference, well, not for me at least.

Once you have made crepes a few times, you won't even use a recipe, it is something that is done by feel- the consistency determines how much of what ingredient is needed.

​Heat a 20cm non stick crepe pan (or frying pan) over medium-high heat. Spray the pan lightly with cooking spray. Using a ladle, pour 1/2-3/4 of a ladle full into the top edge of the pan, quickly tilt your pan around so the batter covers the entire pan. Keep swirling it around until the mixture stops running. Cook for 30 seconds to 1 minute. The sides of the crepe will start to colour and will lift away from the side of the pan so you can slide a long plastic icing spatula under the centre of crepe, that will help you flip the crepe. The crepe should be lightly coloured. Cook for a further 30 seconds, until lightly coloured. Repeat with oil spray and remaining batter. 
​
Bechamel Sauce: Melt the butter in a large heavy based saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and starts to foam, add the flour, whisk continuously for 1-2 minutes, to cook the flour.

Add the milk a cup at a time, whisk it in to get rid of lumps, once it thickens add the next cup, until all the milk has been whisked in and the mixture is smooth. Cook, whisking continuously until the mixture just comes to the boil and thickens.
​
To assemble: Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan forced.

Cover the bottom of a deep, large casserole dish with bolognese sauce. Top with your first layer of crepes. Add two ladles of bolognese or enough to cover the crepes, and add a sprinkling of both the mozzarella and romano cheeses. Add another layer of crepes, top with bolognese and both cheeses, on this layer you now add a ladle of the bechamel. Continue this process of layering and remember to add the bechamel on every second layer of crepes. You need to finish on a layer of bechamel and have enough bechamel to completely cover the top layer. If you have any cheese leftover, you can sprinkle it over the top. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of the bechamel.

Place a sheet of baking paper over your lasagne, then cover tightly with aluminium foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 30 minutes or until the top has nicely browned. Let it stand for 30-60 minutes before serving.

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