A delicious lasagne is easy to master with a few key components: pasta sheets, and a meaty ragu filling.

This calls upon a few other ingredients to whip up an Italian-inspired delight, including leftovers.

Shared by in , the British chef acknowledged that “when you’re dealing with leftovers, you never quite know how it’s going to turn out” but assured his fuss-free approach is fail-safe.

He said: “If you sweat off a load of add a little garlic, some herbs, , stock or wine and a little tomato, after a little bit of simmering it will be heavenly.”

You can make pasta sheets from scratch with Jamie’s simple formula or substitute the raw ingredients with shop-bought lasagne sheets.

Leftovers lasagne recipe

Ingredients

Filling and bechamel

Three cloves of garlic

Four onions

Three sticks of celery

Three carrots

Half a bunch of fresh rosemary

Olive oil

Two tsp dried oregano

Three 400g tins of quality plum tomatoes

375ml chianti, or other medium-bodied red wine

750g leftover cooked higher-welfare meat, such as chicken, beef, lamb, pork

One litre milk

A few peppercorns

75g unsalted butter

75g plain flour

100g Parmesan cheese

125g ball of buffalo mozzarella

A few sprigs of fresh basil

Egg pasta dough

700g tipo 00 flour

Seven large free-range eggs or 14 yolks

Method

If you’re making pasta sheets from scratch, start with the dough. Place the flour on a board or bowl and make a well in the centre.

Beat the seven eggs (or 14 yolks) together in a jug until smooth, then pour it into the well. Use the tips of your fingers to mix the egg with the flour until combined gradually.

Next, knead the bits of dough into one smooth lump—or use a food processor. Whiz the flour and egg until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then tip onto a work surface and bring together with your hands.

Jamie said you must knead the dough to develop the gluten, as “this makes your pasta springy instead of flabby when you cook it.”

Stop kneading when the pasta starts to feel smooth and silky. Wrap it in clingfilm and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

The pasta dough will be rolled out using a rolling pin. For nice thin pasta sheets, Jamie suggests rolling out many small, more rounded pieces rather than large rectangles.

Dust the surface with flour, then take a lump of dough the size of a large orange and start rolling it out. For going until the pasta is between the thickness of a beer mat and a playing card. Do this a few times, re-gather the dough, and start again until you have used it all up.

The pasta dries faster than you might think, so don’t wait more than a minute or two to cut it. To help prevent it from drying out, lay a damp tea towel on top of the pasta.

Now prepare your vegetables; peel and finely slice the garlic, peel all the onions, then finely chop three and cut the remaining onion into wedges.

Trim and finely chop the celery and carrots, and pick and chop the rosemary. Pour a good glug of oil into a large, deep saucepan. Fry the garlic over medium heat for one minute or until golden, then add the finely chopped onions, carrots, and celery to the pan.

Fry over low heat for 10 to 15 minutes or until the veggies are soft but not coloured. Add the rosemary, oregano, tomatoes, wine, a good pinch of sea salt and black pepper, and boil, breaking up the tomatoes with a spoon. Reduce the heat and let the sauce simmer for one hour or until thickened.

Now chop up the meat or pulse it in a food processor, then stir it into the ragù for the final 15 minutes, or until the meat is heated through and the sauce is thick, rich, and glossy. Keep stirring the sauce and loosen it with a splash of boiling water from the kettle if it’s too thick for your liking.

When the ragù is nearly done, reheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4 and start your béchamel sauce. Pour the milk into a large saucepan over low heat, along with the peppercorns and the remaining onion.

Gently bring almost to the boil, then take off the heat. Melt the butter in a second saucepan, stir in the flour to create a paste, and cook over medium heat for a minute or two, stirring frequently.

Remove the onions and peppercorns from the milk as you spoon it into the flour mixture, one ladleful at a time. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for five minutes or until you have a thick, smooth sauce.

Now grate and stir in most of the Parmesan and season to taste. Prepare a large rectangular or round baking dish with a little oil and boil a pan of salted water.

Add the homemade lasagne sheets to the pan, a few sheets at a time, and cook for one minute per batch. Remove the pasta with tongs and spread out on a clean tea towel to drain.

Drape a single layer of lasagna over the base of the baking dish. Spread a thin layer of ragù on top, followed by another layer of pasta. Finally, spread over a thin layer of béchamel sauce.

Repeat this pattern as many times as possible (six to eight is best), finishing with a layer of pasta topped with béchamel sauce.

Tear over the mozzarella for the topping, then finish with the remaining grated Parmesan and a drizzle of oil. Pick and scatter over the basil leaves.

Bake the lasagne in the oven for 45 minutes or until golden on top and bubbling at the edges. Be sure to allow five minutes for it to stand out of the oven before serving.