My Lasagna Bolognese

Description

Lasagna is a proper labor of love, and this is without making fresh pasta sheets (which we do sometimes nonetheless). It is comfort food at its finest and you don’t need to be an Italian nonna to pull it off. You will make 2 sauces, the meat ragu and the bechamel, but the tricky part is layering everything in a way that uses all your ingredients without leftover pasta sheets or sauce. Serves about 6.

My Lasagna Bolognese

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Ingredients

  

The Ragu

• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped (i prefer red ones)
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 500 g minced beef
• 2 x 400 g chopped tomato cans
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (can sub with regular balsamic)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp dried herbs like oregano or thyme
• 0.75 tbsp table salt
• 0.5 tbsp black pepper
• 0.25 tbsp chili flakes
• Handful of chopped fresh basil
• 0.75 to 1 cup water for thinning

The Bechamel

• 60 g unsalted butter
• 60 g all purpose flour
• 1 liter milk
• 0.5 tbsp table salt
• 0.5 tbsp freshly grated nutmeg
• 0.25 tbsp white pepper

The Cheese

• 100-150 g Parmegiano Reggiano cheese (shred on the spot do not buy shredded packs)
• 300-350 g shredded mozzarella cheese (you can also use fresh but you will need more than this amount)

The pasta sheets

• 500 g lasagna sheets, the type that doesn’t require precooking. I use De Cecco brand and i love it.

Instructions

 

• Begin by making the ragu sauce and cook it, then to solidify the flavor, simmer it for about an hour, basically until you assemble. Heat the olive oil and the cook the onion until soft. Then add the garlic and cook for about a minute, until fragrant. Add the meat and season with salt and pepper. Add the bay leaves. Continue cooking on medium heat making sure the meat is broken into little pieces. Add the tomatoes, the vinegar, the sugar, the chili flakes, the tomato paste, and the water. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 1-2 hours. Then stir in the dry herbs and the basil. Remove the bay leaves before layering.
• While the ragu simmers, make the bechamel sauce. In a stainless steel pot, melt the butter and add the flour. Mix them together using a metal whisk until the mixture bubbles and dries out, about 3-4 minutes or until it’s golden brown. Then slowly add the milk while whisking continuously. If you have never done this before, it’s easier to get someone to help. One person pours the milk, while the other whisks. Whisk until the mixture over medium low heat until it is homogeneous and cook until it thickens, about 8-10 minutes. While it is cooking add the salt, white pepper, and grate the nutmeg directly inside. Set aside.

  Note regarding the bechamel: the sauce will thicken much more by the time you start layering. I stir in about a cup of water to make it runny again before I begin.
• Preheat your oven to 200°C. To assemble, use a large rectangular oven proof dish - my 33 cm x 25 cm (Ikea baking dish) does the deed very well. Start by counting your lasagna sheets and figuring out how many layers you will be making in total. Once you have done that you can start layering. First, start with a layer of bechamel at the bottom to act as an insulator. Then layer lasagna sheets, bechamel, meat ragu, and cheese. Repeat that about 4-5 times, until you reach the final layer of pasta. Top it with bechamel and seal the whole thing with a lot of cheese. It might take some practice to layer it gracefully, but the result will always be delicious no matter what.
• Bake for about 30 minutes in a preheated oven at 200° C, or until the top is golden and the sides are bubbly. Serve with a tangy side salad. Sahtein!