Earlier this year, my Aunty Vania sadly passed away from cancer. She was an amazing, brave woman who was so loved by many of us. Like typical Samoans who have a feed whenever they get together, the majority of the memories I have of her relate to food. Her favorite dinner when she came round to my mum's place was my brother and I's lasagna. I know a lot of people that think they make the best lasagna (which actually sounds like a cool night if anyone's down for a lasagna battle) but this is some epic shit right here as I know my Aunty agreed. The key is definitely getting the sauce right, and don't pike on me and use pre-bottled shit because it's easy enough to do it from scratch and way better. The extras?....Mushrooms, spinach and ham. I know it sounds crazy but trust me, it just works. My dad used to put dollops of sour cream in-between the layers too which is also really good so feel free to give that a go too if you're feeling really game (up yours calorie counter).
So here it is, in memory of my Aunty, Vania Savila.
Lasagnia for Vania
This will feed like 10 hungry people
Tomato Sauce
500g lean beef mince
2 brown onions
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup Olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper
2 cans chopped tomatoes
400g Leggos tomato paste
2 Tbsp brown sugar
12-15 button mushrooms
Heat a splash of olive oil in a frying pan over moderate heat. Chop the onions roughly and cook till transparent. Add the mince and brown well. Crush/finely chop the garlic and add with the paprika,oregano, and a decent spike of salt and pepper. Continue to cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, tomato paste and 2 cans of water. Bring to the boil and add the brown sugar and olive oil. Cover and reduce heat to a moderate simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a little more water if it gets too thick so it doesn't burn. Wipe the mushrooms and chop roughly. Add to the sauce and cook for a further 10 minutes. The sauce should be relatively thick and chunky so try to cook it down as much as possible if it's too watery. Taste and check your seasoning. 
Cheese Sauce
150g butter
2 heaped Tbsp flour
2 cups Milk
1 cup grated cheese (edam, colby)
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and stir till combined. Cook for 2 minutes. Add about 1/2 cup of the milk and stir until smooth. Bring to the boil, then add another 1/2 cup milk and bring to the boil again. Continue this process until you've added all the milk. Add the cheese and stir until smooth.
(Note: if you find the cheese sauce consistency a bit curdled, chuck it in a blender for a minute or two and somehow it really makes a difference to the taste of it too)
You will also need
Lasagna sheets
250g shaved ham
Grated cheese
1 large bag of Spinach
[Take the spinach leaves and boil in salted water until cooked through. Remove from heat, drain, and cool. Squeeze as much water as you can from the spinach with your hands, then put the spinach between paper towels and press to dry it out as much as you can]
To assemble
Take a large deep oven proof tin and put a large scoop of your tomato sauce in the bottom and spread out. Take your lasagna sheets and assemble in a single layer over the top, breaking them into the correct sized pieces as needed. Place a layer of tomato sauce over the pasta. Next up, open up pieces of shaved ham and layer over, then chuck bits of the spinach over that. Drizzle a layer of cheese sauce of over the top. Repeat with the pasta layer and so on, ending with a layer of tomato sauce (You should get about 3 layers of ham and spinach). Pour any remaining cheese sauce over the tomato sauce followed by a couple handfuls of grated cheese. Bake in a 200 degree oven for around 40 minutes or until you can insert a sharp knife through the pasta layers easily. Cool for around 15minutes before serving so the layers stay together better when you try to get it out.
We all miss you Aunty Vans. xx
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