Servings:

Serves 6-8

Level of difficulty:

Intermediate

Ingredients

- 200g parmesan (freshly grated)

-8 tbsp olive oil

-6 leeks, chopped at an angle

-10 cod or haddock fillets, broken up into chuncks about 2cm x 2 cm

-750g lasagna pasta sheets

-salt

-pepper


For the Béchamel Sauce:

-90g plain flour

-60g butter

-3 tblsp olive oil

-750ml milk (semi- or whole)

-250ml white wine

-1tsp nutmeg

-1 tsp ground white pepper

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg.C (fan assisted)

2. Grate the parmesan finely and set it aside.

3. Melt the olice oil in a heavy-based saucepan or frying pan.

4. Add the leeks, and season with salt & pepper (black or white).

5. Stir and cover, lowering heat so leeks sweat & soften slowly, without browning (10 minutes app).

6. In the meantime, in another saucepan, melt the oil and butter for the Béchamel sauce.

7. Add the flour, and mix vigourously to avoid lumps. Leave to cook for 5 minutes or so, to cook the flour through.

8. Add the milk, a little at a time, allowing it to combine before adding any more. It sometimes helps to warm the milk a little beforehand.

9. Next, add the wine, half at a time.

10. Add the nutmeg and ground white pepper. Stir, and leave for the flavours to infuse on a low heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.

11. Next, to assemble the lasagne. Begin with a layer of the Béchamel sauce in the bottom of a large oven-proof, rectangular dish.

12. Sprinkle a generous layer of the freshly-grated parmesan on top of the Béchamel sauce.

13. Next lay on top a layer of the pasta sheets, overlapping slightly.

14. On top of these pasta sheets pour on another layer of Béchamel sauce, and again cover with parmesan. This 'empty', repeated layer is for stability of lasagne structure.

15. Next, another layer of pasta sheets, followed by a layer of the fish chunks, evenly distributed, making sure you have enough left for 2 more layers.

16. On top of the fish, pour on some more Béchamel sauce, and cover with another layer of parmesan.

17. Add another layer of pasta sheets, as before.

18. Repeat until you have 3 layers of fish, and on top of the last layer of pasta sheets, add another layer of Béchamel sauce and cheese, and another layer of pasta. This adds stability, as in point 14.

19. On the very top add some more parmesan cheese to encourage a nice, yummy-looking finish.

Cook for about half an hour, leave to cool and settle for about 20 minutes (this REALLY improves the flavour), and then serve with a mixed-leaf salad and a good glass of Chianti!

N.B. We have, since its inception, added prawns to the fish mixture, which was really successful, and tried various different klinds of fish. there's lots of scope for experimentation. We also tried different cheeses - gruyere, cheddah, and all lend their own magic, but I think parmesan wins. White pepper works with the fish more than cracked black because it seems to be less fiery a flavour, and instead more mild and smooth, which suits a creamy fish dish, we think. You can use either, though!