Recipe from Extra Virgin
Time: 4 hours
Feeds: 6-8 people
Ingredients:
For the bolognese:
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 1 red onion, finely diced
- 3 carrots, finely diced
- 3 stalks of celery, finely diced
- 5 oz pancetta, cut into small cubes
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 lb ground veal (see notes)
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 3 28 oz cans chopped or puréed tomatoes (San Marzano are best)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 cup whole milk
For the besciamella:
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 1/2 cup whole milk
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For assembly:
- Large lasagna pan (see notes)
- Butter, to grease pan
- 1/2 batch Bolognese sauce
- 1 1/2 (9 oz) boxes of no-boil lasagne noodles
- Besciamella
- 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- Extra virgin olive oil, for serving (optional)
Directions:
For the bolognese: Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in about 5 tablespoons olive oil in a large rondeau until soft. Add the pancetta to the vegetables. Cook on a medium-high flame for about 7 to 10 minutes, then add the meat; break it up well with a wooden spoon. You can turn up the heat a bit, and keep stirring until all the ground meat is browned. Add the red pepper flakes and the parsley and cook for just 1 minute. Add the wine now and cook until the alcohol is completely evaporated, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan.
Add the tomatoes to the meat, season generously with salt and pepper, lower the flame to medium and cook for about 2 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Finish the sauce by adding the whole milk, stir well and set aside, to cool off.
For the besciamella: Melt the 1/2 cup butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon. This is an important moment, as you have to slowly toast the flour without burning it. This will help you lose the raw flour taste.
Warm up the milk and gradually ladle into the pot with the butter-flour mixture, whisking constantly while bringing the mixture to a boil. I don’t always warm up the milk but this does seem to ensure a smoother besciamella without whisking like crazy. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
For assembly: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Butter the lasagne pan well and add a very thin layer of meat sauce.
Add the first layer of lasagne noodles and in order, cover with meat sauce, about 3 ladles besciamella, and a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. Repeat the same process until you reach the top of the dish. Make sure the lasagne noodles are soaking into the sauce. Because you are working with pasta that does not require boiling, you have to make sure that there are no pieces of lasagne sticking out of the sauce because they won’t cook.
When done layering the ingredients, top the lasagne with a final ladle of meat sauce and some besciamella, add a few thin slices of butter and finish with some grated Parmesan. Bake for about 30 minutes. If desired, broil for about 5 minutes when it’s finished cooking to get a nice crisp on top. Before cutting, let sit on a cooling rack for at least 5 minutes so that it can cool slightly. This lets it all set up a little bit so it’s not as much of a mess when trying to get the pieces out. You can drizzle individual servings with extra virgin olive oil as well but this is also optional.
Notes: This recipe calls for ground veal but it can be tricky to find. I usually just get an extra pound of ground beef but you could always split the ground beef and ground pork evenly (1 1/2 pounds of each). This recipe originally calls for whole canned tomatoes that get puréed in a food processor but I find that it’s just as good to use diced or puréed tomatoes instead. It’s a lot easier and one less dish to clean up after you’re done cooking. Of course, you’re welcome to use a casserole dish that you have but I like to buy a disposable foil lasagne pan when I made this. You can keep the leftovers directly in the pan and in the fridge and, again, the clean up is much easier.