Lasagna Alla Besciamella Recipes

AUTHENTIC ITALIAN LASAGNA BOLOGNESE RECIPE | LASAGNE ALLA BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• First cut the carrot, celery and onion in very tiny pieces and set aside. Then cut the pancetta as finely as possible with a sharp knife or a food processor. Now place the minced pancetta in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon from time to time.
• Add the extra virgin olive oil and the finely chopped vegetables. Stir and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring. Then add the ground beef.
• Stir and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat. Now put the heat on high and add the white wine. Stir and let it evaporate.
• Finally add the tomato passata. Cover with a lid and simmer over low heat for about 2 hours, adding broth when needed. Towards the end, add the milk to dampen the acidity of the tomato. Season with salt and pepper. Bolognese Sauce is ready when you can see an oily, creamy sauce on the surface.
• In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat then add the flour - using a flour sieve - while mixing QUICKLY with a whisk. Cook for 30 sec/1 min stirring, so the flour becomes tastier and absorb the butter fats. The mixture of butter and flour is called roux and it should be a nice golden color. Now set aside and let it cool. Meanwhile heat the milk, without bringing to a boil.
• Pour the milk slowly over the roux, while stirring vigorously with a whisk to prevent the formation of lumps. When the milk is completely poured over the roux sauce, put the saucepan back on low heat. Keep mixing constantly, until you have a fairly thick consistency (about 10/15 minutes). The sauce is ready when it sticks to the back of a wooden spoon. Finally, add a pinch of fine salt and grated nutmeg to taste.
• Spread on the bottom of a baking dish two tablespoons of bechamel. Then put lasagna noodles over it, trying to cover the entire bottom of the pan. If one lasagna is not enough for you, use another one, whole or in half, depending on the size of the lasagna. Layer on two tablespoons of bolognese sauce and two of bechamel sauce.
• With the help of a tablespoon, cover the entire surface of the lasagna. In the end, sprinkle two tablespoons of grated Parmigiano. Repeat these steps for at least five layers (lasagna - bolognese sauce - bèchamel - parmigiano -repeat), in any case up to fill your baking dish.
• Finish by covering the last layer with plenty of Parmigiano cheese, that cooking make a crispy crust. Bake at 190° (380 F) for about 30 minutes.Let cool Lasagna Bolognese out of the oven for 10 minutes before serving.

LASAGNE ALLA BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• 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.
• 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.
• Heat a broiler. When your fantastic lasagne alla bolognese is cooked, give it a nice crisp top by broiling it for about 5 minutes.
• Always serve this dish with extra-virgin olive oil and some grated parmesan, to taste.
• Bolognese Sauce: Saute the onion, carrots, and celery in about 5 tablespoons olive oil in a large rondeau until soft. Add the pancetta to the soffritto (onion mixture). 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 jack 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.
• Pulse the tomatoes smooth in a food processor and add them 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.
• 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 flowery 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. Reduce the heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Season the sauce with freshly grated nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

LASAGNE ALLA BOLOGNESE RECIPE

Steps:

• Before you start, get the mince up to room temperature.
• In heavy-bottomed saucepan or Dutch oven, add the pancetta and cook until crispy. Remove from the pan and set aside.
• Add the olive oil and butter to the fat over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and sweat down until the vegetables are translucent.
• In the meantime, combine the two portions of mince together in a large bowl. Add a little olive oil and, using your very clean hands, combine the mince.
• Add the garlic to the vegetables and stir for one minute to combine. Do not let the garlic burn or it will make the finished ragù bitter.
• Add the pork and beef mix and stir into vegetables. Brown over medium-high heat, stirring to keep meat from sticking together. This should take 15 to 20 minutes, so be patient, it's worth it.
• Once the ragù is browned, add the tomato paste and work into the ragù until the paste ad really deepened in colour. Add the pancetta back into the ragù.
• Add the milk and simmer while stirring until the milk is reduced, around 2-3 minutes.
• Add the wine and stir until evaporated.
• Add the stock, bring to a boil and then lower the heat as low as you can go.
• Put the lid on the pot and simmer for 1 1/2 hours, stirring every 15 minutes.
• Remove the lid slightly and simmer for another 1 1/2 hours, moving the lid every 15 minutes until fully off. If the ragù is starting to dry out add some more stock or water, just enough so that you can see liquid bubbling around the ragù.
• The final ragù should have a film of oil around the pieces of mince. It should bubble around the sauce. If not, add more stock.
• Combine milk, onion, parsley stalks, peppercorns, bay leaves and cloves in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat and set aside for 15 minutes to infuse.
• Strain milk mixture through a fine sieve into a large measuring cup.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high until foaming. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly for 1-2 minutes or until mixture bubbles and begins to come away from side of pan. Remove from heat.
• Pour in half the milk gradually, whisking with a balloon whisk until mixture is smooth. Gradually add the remaining milk, whisking until smooth and combined.
• Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 5 minutes or until sauce thickens and coats the back of the spoon. Remove from heat. Taste and season with nutmeg, salt and pepper.
• Preheat the oven to 220°C.
• Grease a lasagne pan with butter and spread a thin layer of ragu over the bottom. Spread a layer of besciamella over this and sprinkle with 15g of Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Lay a layer of lasagne sheets on top of this. Break the corners of the sheets going into the corners so they are a snug fit. Try not to overlap the sheets.
• Cover with a thin layer of ragu, then besciamella, being careful to make sure the ragu and besciamella cover the corners to help prevent burning. Sprinkle with 15g of Parmigiano Reggiano.
• Repeat this process 4 times so you have 5 layers of lasagne sheets in total.
• When it comes to the final pasta sheets, only put down a layer of besciamella and cheese.
• Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes and check for doneness, you want a golden cheesy layer on top and the sauce should be bubbling.
• Let the lasagne rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing. If you do this sooner the lasagne layers will spread out over the plate.
• For best results, refrigerate overnight, cut individual slices and place in a very hot oven until reheated.
• Serve with a little drizzle of olive oil.

LASAGNA ALLA BESCIAMELLA

Steps:

• To make the meat ragu: Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until soft and fragrant, about 8 minutes. Add the ground beef, sausage, salt, basil, Italian seasoning, oregano and pepper to taste and increase the heat to high. Cook, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon, until browned all over. Add the tomatoes. Pour some of the wine into the empty tomato boxes to rinse out the last bits of tomatoes and add to the pot, along with the remaining wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, until the sauce thickens and the flavors come together, about 1 hour. Add a healthy amount of black pepper.
• To make the besciamella: Heat the milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until just simmering, then turn off the heat. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour to the butter and cook, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens and then loosens again, about 2 minutes. Add the hot milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil. Add the nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, whisking almost constantly, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and use immediately.
• To make the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Spread an even layer of the meat ragu over the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 lasagna noodles over the sauce lengthwise across the short side of the pan. Avoid overlapping or allowing them to touch the sides of the pan because they will expand as they cook. Press down slightly to let the sauce spread around them. Cover with one-quarter of the besciamella and sprinkle with one-third of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add another layer of ragu. Add 3 more noodles, arranging them in the opposite direction from the first layer and breaking 1 of the noodles in half if necessary to fit. Add one-quarter of the besciamella and half of the mozzarella. Make a third layer of ragu, noodles (alternating directions again), besciamella and one-third of the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add another layer of ragu, then the remaining mozzarella, noodles (alternating the noodles again), besciamella and ragu.
• Cover the pan with foil and bake until heated through, about 35 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the top is brown and bubbling, about 20 minutes more. During the last 10 minutes of baking, scatter the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano all over. Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes before serving.