Freezer meal - beef lasagne

In my opinion, the easiest way to build up on freezer meals' inventory is to double or triple the amount of meals you make and freeze the extra(s). That is what I did when I made lasagne the other day. I doubled the ingredients and made two lasagnes instead of one, one for dinner and another one to freeze.

Here's how I made my beef lasagne:

Onions, minced

Ground beef

Carrots and button mushrooms, sliced

Pasta sauce (I used the one that I made earlier)

Salt and black pepper to taste

Olive oil

Lasagne sheets

Cream or milk

Tomatoes, sliced

Shredded cheese (I used mozzarella)

For the beef sauce, heat the olive oil and saute the onions. Add in ground beef and cook. Next, add in the sliced carrots and button mushrooms (feel free to add any other vegetables in, e.g. capsicum, celery, baby tomatoes etc). Stir for a bit, and add in the pasta sauce. Let simmer until all the vegetables are tender and season well with salt and pepper.

To assemble:

I lined my baking tin with aluminium foil as I want to freeze the lasagne. If you want to cook it straight, then you can skip this step. Next, spread some beef sauce onto the lined baking tin:

Add in a layer of lasagne sheets, I normally will just wet the lasagne sheets with plain water before layering:

Then, layer with more beef sauce and add in the sliced tomatoes. Then, I pour some milk (or cream, depending on what I have in the kitchen):

And sprinkle with shredded cheese:

Then repeat i.e. lasagne sheets, beef sauce, tomatoes and cheese. I normally do about 3 to 4 layers of lasagne sheets for each lasagne.

To freeze, wrap the aluminium foil to cover the top of the uncooked lasagne:

Add more aluminium foil to cover the uncooked lasagne, if needed:

Freeze the lasagne with the baking tin until solid. Once solid, remove the lasagne in aluminium foil and place it inside a freezer/zip lock bag and label. This way, you can use the baking tin for other things:

To bake, let thaw and place in a preheated oven @ 180 degree Celsius for 30 minutes (covered) and another 15 minutes (uncovered). You can also cook from frozen, just bake it for longer. To test whether the lasagne is cook, just insert a fork in the center of the lasagne to test if the lasagne sheets are soft. Let cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.