Dinner 9 - meatball pasta bake with Poirier lettuce

An interesting twist on an old classic. It was going to be lasagne but with travelling it was easier to pre-prepare the meatballs and just bung in some pasta and red and white sauces, and Bob's your uncle (thanks go to Rose for doing it all!).

A funny story about me and lasagne - I never used to make it because it was soooo time consuming to make. I loved my mum's lasagne and would relish it every time she made it, simple as it was (now). Then Austin came along and when he was about 18 months old we introduced him to some Jamie Oliver's 30 minute meals recorded tv shows. When I saw him make lasagne in such a small amount of time I got game enough to try it for myself and was amazed at how simple it really is. Oh and the fact that in France someone had told us the secret proportions to making a bechamel sauce: 50-50-50, that is, 50g butter, 50g flour and 50cl (500ml) milk. It's magic and works every time and so quickly. Ive even made it with 10-10-10 proportions with great success. And here I was, I'd always thought making a white sauce took forever because it always seemed to when I helped mum make it growing up. Funny how things seem different when you actually do then for yourself!

Anyway, since then lasagne isn't such a scary meal and actually is very easy! PS my mum's secret ingredient is salami - what's yours?

What did you have for dinner tonight?