Lasagne Fresca

While the pasta rests, make the fillings. Tip the fennel seeds, chilli flakes and garlic into a blender with 6 tbsp of olive oil. Blend on high until the seeds are broken down. Add the tins of tomatoes and blitz until smooth. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Melt your butter in a medium-sized saucepan over a medium heat. Once foaming, add your flour and whisk to a paste. Cook for 2 mins.

Now, gradually pour in your milk in small increments, beating constantly to ensure that you have a smooth mixture before adding more milk. Once all the milk is added, bring the mixture to a boil and allow it to thicken. Add 15g of grated Parmesan and season to taste with salt.

Tear the mozz into chunks and pick the leaves from the basil. If the anchovies are in oil, drain them. You can chuck the oil into your tomato sauce for an extra flavour boost.

Time to roll out your pasta. Grab a pasta machine or rolling pin. If using a machine, pass one-third of the dough through the widest setting, and keep working your way down until you have landed on the second thinnest setting. You want to use a rolling pin to initially roll out the dough so it fits into the machine. Roll out your dough and cut into sheets just larger than the baking dish you will be using.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, season with salt and cook the pasta sheets 2 at a time for 30 secs-1 min. Transfer to an ice bath with a few tbsp of oil added to stop the cooking. Transfer the iced sheets to a tray and keep blanching until all the pasta is cooked.

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Now start building your layers. Start with a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish, then pasta, then a layer of béchamel, then a layer of mozzarella, anchovies and basil leaves, and repeat. We want lots of thin layers here, so less is more with the fillings. Leave some of the pasta sticking out over the sides for extra crispy bits and build the lasagne very tall, it will sink once it’s cooked! You’re shooting for 24 (including sauces) layers in total. Finish with a layer of béchamel with dollops of tomato sauce on the top and sprinkle with grated parm.

Bake for 35-40 mins until bubbling and delish. Serve with a salad and the remaining parm.