Sarah Butler: Comfort food recipes for homemade lasagne and marble cake — and a goodbye

Thank you for cooking with me

A comforting family lasagne and a simple marbled cake that never fails to make people smile.

As much as this column is about food, it’s also about people, and this one comes with a goodbye.

Life is wonderfully full, busy with family and in need of more breathing space, and sometimes we have to make thoughtful decisions to find a better balance between work and home. This feels like the right time to step back and focus on that balance.

I want to say a huge thank you to every reader who cooked along with me, sent messages, shared photos, or took the time to write such kind words. Your support, encouragement, and generosity have meant more than I can say, and I’ve truly loved being part of your kitchens over the past year.

While this chapter is ending, I’ll still be cooking and sharing recipes over on Instagram and Facebook, and you’ll continue to find me cooking regularly with RTÉ’s Today show, so it’s very much au revoir rather than goodbye.

Wishing you and your families a healthy, happy, and delicious 2026 and thanks to you and the Irish Examiner for having me here each week, I have enjoyed every minute!

For my final week here, I’m sharing two recipes that always feel like home in my kitchen. A comforting family lasagne and a simple marbled cake that never fails to make people smile. Both are easy, reliable, and full of flavour, the kind of dishes that fit into real life!

Homemade Lasagne

recipe by:Sarah Butler

Lasagne is the ultimate comfort food all year round. Along with some simple cupboard staples and good-quality Irish beef, this is a wholesome, and filling family favourite.

Servings

4

Preparation Time

 20 mins

Cooking Time

 30 mins

Total Time

 50 mins

Course

 Main

Ingredients

• 50g butter

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 500g minced meat

• 1 beef stock cube

• 2 tbsp tomato purée

• 1 tbsp dried oregano

• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped

• 2 carrots, finely chopped

• 1 onion, finely chopped

• 3 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tbsp plain flour

• 1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes

• 400ml water

• 2 bay leaves

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• For the white sauce

• 50g butter

• 50g plain flour

• 500ml milk

• ½ tsp ground nutmeg

• ½ tsp English mustard

• 50g white cheddar, grated

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• To assemble

• Lasagne sheets

• 200g mixed grated cheddar and Parmesan

• 3 cherry tomatoes, halved

• Handful of basil leaves, chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan/or Gas Mark 6.

2. In a large casserole pot, melt half the butter with the olive oil. Add the minced meat and cook until browned. Stir in the stock cube, tomato purée, oregano, and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

3. In the same pot, add the remaining butter and oil, then cook the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic over medium heat until softened.

4. Stir in the flour and cook for one to two minutes to form a base.

5. Return the browned meat to the pot. Add the chopped tomatoes, water, and bay leaves. Season again with salt and pepper, then let it simmer gently while you prepare the white sauce.

6. You can simmer for 30 minutes and assemble straight away but I prefer to slow cook for two to three hours for best results and flavour.

7. To make the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and stir over medium heat until it forms a sandy paste.

8. Gradually whisk in the milk, and bring to a gentle simmer.

9. Add the nutmeg, mustard, and white cheddar. Stir until smooth and season with salt and pepper.

10. In a baking dish, start assembling your lasagne, adding a with a layer of meat sauce, then top with lasagne sheets, followed by white sauce. Repeat the layers once more (meat, pasta, white sauce). Sprinkle over the grated cheddar and Parmesan, and top with the halved cherry tomatoes.

11. Bake for 30–35 minutes until golden and bubbling. Insert a knife to check if the pasta is cooked. If not, cover with foil and bake for an extra 10 minutes.

12. Rest for 30 minutes before slicing — this helps the lasagne hold its shape. 

Sarah’s secret

Adding a Parmesan rind to the Bolognese as it cooks gives the sauce a deeper, more delicious flavour.

Marble Cake

recipe by:Sarah Butler

Simple recipes with impressive results, that’s my kind of bake!

Servings

1

Preparation Time

 10 mins

Cooking Time

 50 mins

Total Time

 60 mins

Course

 Baking

Ingredients

• 180g butter, softened

• 180g caster sugar

• 3 small eggs

• 180g self-raising flour

• 2 tbsp milk

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tbsp cocoa powder

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / gas mark 4. Line a 2lb loaf tin or 8” round cake tin.

2. Add the butter, caster sugar, eggs, self-raising flour, milk, and vanilla extract to a large bowl or food processor. Mix until smooth and well combined. Spoon about one third of the batter into a separate bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder and mix well. If the mixture is a little thick, add 1–2 teaspoons of milk to loosen it.

3. Spoon alternate dollops of vanilla and chocolate batter into the prepared tin. Use a skewer or knife to gently swirl the mixtures together. Don’t overmix or you’ll lose the marbled effect. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until risen and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

4. Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Sarah’s secret

Pipe a thin line of soft butter along the top of the batter in the tin, it will naturally split as it bakes, giving you that lovely baker’s burst on top.