Lasagne
Lasagne, known as one of the oldest pasta dishes, has roots back to Naples, Italy in the 14th century. There are also very old Greek and British versions of this dish. In America, the recipe is found right on the box of any store bought lasagne noodle, which is where so many of us first learned to make Lasagne.
This version, is an evolution from the lasagne box recipe. It starts with a very slow cooked Bolognese sauce. Then, rather than using the store bought cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, this version is made with a simple, yet delicious, béchamel sauce. After a recent trip to Tuscany, where we had the very best lasagna of our lives, we practiced making a similar version using Bolognese, bechamel and hand torn mozzarella. We hope you love it as much as we do.
Start with chopping the veggies. A traditional Bolognese sauce has celery and carrots, something the American sauce version does not.
In a large Dutch oven sauté the veggies until slightly soft.
Add the ground veal. Not everyone loves the idea of veal, so ground beef works just fine as well. The key is to break the meat up finely. This Mix and Chop works just great!
Add the Liquids
After the meat is browned, add the pancetta. Then it’s time to add the liquids. Traditional Bolognese has white, not red wine, that you would instinctively think to use. The chicken broth and canned tomatoes come next.
After adding the herbs and spices, it’s time to just let the Bolognese simmer, very slowly, for at least 90 minutes. Keep the lid slightly askew and stir from time to time.
The kitchen will smell so good.
While the Bolognese is simmering, make the béchamel sauce. Start with slightly foaming the butter in a sauce pan. Keep whisking and then add the flour. Continue to whisk as not to burn the mixture.
Have a separate pan of milk warming on the stove. Add the milk to the butter/flour mixture all at once, whisking briskly.
Add Salt and Nutmeg
Add a good amount of salt, but go sparingly with the nutmeg. A little goes a long way.
Now it’s time to begin to pull it all together.
Using a 9x13 baking dish to assemble, start with placing a bit of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Start by laying the cooked noodles on top of the layer of sauce. Next, spoon some of the béchamel sauce on the noodles, spreading all across. Layer more sauce, then tear several pieces of fresh mozzarella on top of that. Finish the layer by sprinkling freshly grated parmesan cheese over all.
Repeat until all the ingredients are used. Save 2-3 “good looking” noodles for the top layer. Most of the time, you’ll have a few extra noodles which is fine.
The finished Lasagne, ready for the oven. Remember, tear, don’t grate the mozzarella, and top with more fresh parmesan cheese.
Be sure to place the dish on a baking sheet. It will be heavy! Cook for about 35-40 minutes until bubbly. Cover for the first 30 minutes. After cooking, remove from the oven and let it set for up to 10 minutes.
Layers of Deliciousness
This version is not overwhelmed with tomato sauce or store bought cheese. The slow cooked Bolognese sauce combined with the soft béchamel sauce, makes this a hearty yet, more delicate version of Lasagne. We hope you love it as much as we do!
Lasagne
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 celery, finely diced
- 1 small onion, finely diced
- 1 1/2 lbs ground veal (ground beef works well too)
- 1/4 lb pancetta, 1/2 in thick sliced then chopped
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 28 oz can Italian (San Marzano) tomatoes
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon oregano
- Salt and Freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 cups full fat milk
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 package Lasagne noodles, cooked per the package instructions
- 1 1/2 cups fresh parmesan cheese, finely grated
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese, hand torn
- Fresh parsley, chopped (for garnish)
Instructions
- Heat the butter and oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When the butter foams, add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are slightly soft. Add the veal, breaking up in to small pieces with a fork or spatula. Cook until all the pink is gone in the meat, about 5 minutes. Add the pancetta and cook about 2-3 minutes more.
- Turn the heat to high and add the wine. Cook until the wine is almost reduced, about 3-4 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, broth, oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Stir all together. Once the sauce begins to bubble reduce the heat to low. Cover, keeping the lid slightly askew, and cook for 1 1/2 hours. Stir a few times while cooking.
- Heat the milk in a small saucepan.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. When the butter foams, add the flour, stirring the mixture vigorously so the butter does not brown, about 2 minutes.
- Add the warmed milk to the flour mixture, while stirring. Continue to stir vigorously to incorporate all the flour mixture into the milk. Stir constantly until the mixture is thick and smooth. Stir in the salt. (If the sauce is too thick add a bit more milk)
- Cover and remove from the heat until ready to use. (Can be made ahead, cover and refrigerate)
- Heat the oven to 350.
- Cook the lasagne noodles according to package directions.
- Once the noodles are cooked begin to assemble the lasagne. Start with placing a small amount of the Bolognese sauce at the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place 3-4 noodles (enough to fill the bottom of the dish) on top of the sauce. Next, spoon some of the béchamel sauce over the noodles. Spoon more Bolognese sauce over the béchamel. Tear several pieces of mozzarella over the top and then sprinkle some of the freshly grated parmesan cheese.
- Repeat the layers until the ingredients are gone. There will most likely be a few noodles left. Top the last layer with just Bolognese, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Sprinkle fresh parsley over the top of all if desired.
- Place the dish on a baking sheet and place in the oven. Bake for 30 minutes, covered. Remove the cover and back for another 5-10 minutes until the sauce is bubbly. Once fully baked, remove from the oven and let set for 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!
