TODAY'S budget recipe has been provided by a chef who thinks nothing of cooking 200 meals in one night.

Our Bristol Fights Back series on feeding a family of four for under a fiver continues with Haydn Neal, head chef at The Living Room on the Harbourside.

The restaurant has only been open for three months, but is already doing a roaring trade.

Despite his busy schedule, the 38-year-old still found time to talk us through one of his favourite quick dishes – lasagne.

Mr Neal said: "It's a very filling meal, because of the pasta. And it's very wholesome.

"Because you cook the meat before it goes into the lasagne you can take off the excess fat.

"You can prepare the mince the day before and store it in the fridge overnight. The fat will solidify and rise to the top.

"It's a great meal to make if you have had spaghetti bolognese the day before, as you can use the meat sauce for the lasagne.

"It's very easy and cheap to make, and with this recipe you don't have to spend time making a cheese sauce.

"The ricotta acts like a cheese sauce, melting through the meat and pasta. It is a lot cheaper and is a great time-saving technique."

Lasagne can be cooked in a number of different ways, but Mr Neal, who is from Weston-super-Mare, has his own theories.

He said: "If you blanch the pasta sheets – by briefly immersing them in boiling water and then putting them in cold water – they will be half cooked. The mince then doesn't have to have so much liquid.

"If you don't blanch the pasta you will need to put the meat on the bottom layer, as the pasta will burn.

"It is entirely down to preference, but I always start with the mince.

"The layers are mince, ricotta cheese, pasta, then mince, ricotta cheese, pasta, and then a final layer of mince and the mozzarella.

"You have to finish with the mince on the top, or the pasta will burn."

Mr Neal also revealed some tips to keep the bills down when you are out shopping. He said: "Never go shopping when you are hungry, otherwise you will buy anything on the shelf.

"Also, buy a little and often.

"It is very easy to do a big food shop all in one.

"But by the middle of the week a lot of the fresh stuff could well have gone off and will go to waste.

"Buy on a daily basis, if you can, and use what you have left over the following day.

"Also, take a list with you and stick to it.

"You can't go into a supermarket and shop for them – you have to shop for yourself."