• Preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).

Step 1. Infuse your milk (optional - see note 1)

• Add all 3 cups of milk, the quartered onion, cloves, peppercorns and bay leaves to a medium-sized saucepan.
• Bring the mixture slowly to a simmer over medium-low heat, stirring often to prevent the milk from congealing on the bottom of the pan. Do not allow the milk to boil.
• Simmer gently for 10 minutes, continuing to stir frequently.
• Remove the pan from the heat. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, remove the vegetables and spices from the milk and discard.
• If you are pausing here, allow the milk to cool (note 2). Otherwise move to the next step.

Step 2. Make your roux

• In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, melt the butter and allow it to gently bubble for a couple of minutes, stirring often.
• Add the flour and nutmeg to the butter and stir well to combine.
• Cook the butter and flour mixture over medium-low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently.
• If you want you can pause here and remove the roux from the heat. Otherwise leave it on the heat and move to the next step.

Step 3. Make your bechamel sauce

• If your roux is still on the heat, keep it at medium-low. If it has cooled, place the pot back on medium-low heat and allow the roux to heat back up.
• Add about a quarter-cup of your milk to the roux and whisk rapidly to combine. Once combined, continue to stir for another 30 seconds or so. The mixture may clump up into a thick paste-like consistency at this point - that's normal.
• Add a similar amount more milk and whisk rapidly to combine. Continue to stir for another 30 seconds or so.
• Repeat step 3 until all of the milk has been added to the sauce. After the first two or three additions you can start to add a bit more each time, but fight the urge to pour large amounts in at once.
• Bring the sauce to a low simmer, stirring very frequently to prevent the milk from burning on the bottom of the pan.
• Once it is simmering (not boiling!), lower the heat and keep stirring frequently for five to ten minutes until the sauce thickens a little and will coat the back of a spoon.

Step 4. Upgrade your bechamel to mornay sauce (see note 3)

• Remove the bechamel from the heat and allow it to cool for a few minutes.
• Add about a quarter of the parmesan cheese and stir rapidly to incorporate it into the sauce. Don't move onto the next step until the cheese has been fully combined into the sauce.
• Repeat step 2 until all of your cheese is incorporated. If you're adding a lot of cheese (more than directed) you may need to put the sauce back on low heat to prevent it from cooling down too much and clumping.
• Set the sauce aside until your ready to put your lasagne together.

Step 5. Cook your lasagne sheets (see note 4)

• Lay out a large, clean tea towel on the benchtop next to your stove.
• Bring plenty of well salted water to the boil in a large skillet or large, wide saucepan (large enough to easily fit your pasta sheets across it).
• Add two or more lasagne sheets to the boiling water.
• Move the sheets about frequently for the first 3 to 4 minutes, ensuring they are not sticking together. If you haven't tried this before, I highly recommend only cooking two at a time, at least for the first batch.
• Continue to cook the pasta until done to your liking, checking every couple of minutes to make sure they are not sticking together. I find that 12 to 13 minutes works well for most dried lasagne sheets. For fresh lasagne, 1 to 2 minutes should suffice.
• Using a wide spatula and tongs, remove the cooked pasta sheets from the water one by one, laying them out on the prepared tea towel to cool and dry.
• Allow the sheets to cool enough to handle if making your lasagne straight away, or you can leave them out for up to 2 hours if you need more time.

Step 6. Construct your lasagne

• Cut your lasagne pasta to suit your baking dish. A pizza cutter is ideal for this.
• Spread a thin layer of your bechamel sauce on the bottom of the dish.
• Top with a single layer of pasta (without overlaps if you need more than one sheet per layer).
• Spread a good layer of your bechamel sauce over the pasta, ensuring you fully and generously cover it.
• Repeats Steps 3 and 4 until you run out of pasta or sauce, ensuring you finish with bechamel sauce.
• Cover the baking dish tightly with foil.
• If you're not eating it straight away, you can stop here and keep your lasagne in the fridge for a couple of days before cooking it.

Step 7. Cook your lasagne

• If you haven't already done so, preheat your oven to 350°F (180°C).
• Cook the lasagne for 30 minutes or until thoroughly heated through, then remove from the oven and rest for 5 minutes.

Step 8. Serve

• Cut your lasagne into single serves in the baking dish, or carefully lift the whole lasagne out onto a cutting board with a suitable size spatula and cut it there.
• Place a single piece on a plate, top with a generous scoop of your chosen meat or vegetable dish (e.g. Bolognese sauce, etc) and serve immediately.