parsley sage sweet

Scroll to end of this post for a printable recipe.

Who doesn’t love a thick, steaming hunk of perfectly textured pasta sheets layered with a well-seasoned combination of ricotta cheese, grated Italian hard cheese of some sort, herbs (with or without eggs to bind, but that’s another post or, uhh debate), lots of creamy, gooey mozzarella cheese, and a rich, meaty or just rich, perfectly seasoned tomato sauce? I know I do I do. However, this post, although about lasagna, isn’t about that lasagna. This post is about something just as yummy, but in a different way; something I feel is incredibly underrated here in America.

Lasagna Bolognese aka Lasagne alla Bolognese

This kind of lasagna seems simple enough; pasta sheets, 2 sauces, and some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. Piece of cake, right? Well, not if you want one bite to cause your knees to buckle.

After we ate our fill, I wrapped and put the rest of the lasagna in the fridge overnight so I’d have a nice, solid piece for photos.  I now wish I didn’t do that since the sauces firmed up (especially the bechamel), taking away the saucy oozing factor; the best part!  I should have reheated it for these photos.

The main ingredient of Lasagna Bolognese is, of course, the Bolognese sauce, which originated in..well, Bologna, Italy; the Emila-Romagna region. It’s obvious by the name, but I honestly didn’t know that for sure until I looked it up. This is a sauce that consists of some kind of ground meat or a combo of ground meats, a mirepoix (diced celery, carrots and onions), some nice pancetta or prosciutto, milk and/or cream, white or red wine, a meat broth or stock, such as chicken (unless you’re vegetarian or vegan, in which you’d use vegetable stock or broth and instead of the meat, and maybe a nice, meaty mushroom, like chopped portobellos, or even lentils!), and just enough tomato, whether it be broken up whole San Marzano tomatoes, puree, or either of those combined with tomato paste, or all tomato paste, depending on your taste.

NOTE – I add a little more tomato than a traditional Bolognese sauce because I like it that way. The intense meaty flavor still dominates, so nothing is lost or diluted. However, if you want to remain true to Bolognese authenticity, half the amount of tomato in my recipe, and just add more stock if needed.

That being said, some like to add cinnamon, cloves and herbs such as basil and oregano, which is great, but not authentic. Furthermore, it’s not meant to be a ‘saucy’ sauce, but rather a really concentrated meaty sauce of sorts. It’s thick, it’s rich, and if you want it just right, simmer it for hours with extra TLC.

Trust me, this isn’t your basic Italian Meat Sauce recipe (you know, brown the meat and dump in the tomatoes/sauce, which we all do for a quick treat!).

The other sauce in Lasagna Bolognese is Bechamel,(aka Besciamella en Italiano) which all of you foodies and chefs out there know is the ‘mother’ sauce for many other sauces such as Mornay, and ironically, (when pertaining to this recipe), it originated in France. This sauce is simple; a blonde roux made with equal parts butter and flour, whole milk, and seasoning(s). That’s it. In Lasagna Bolognese, France and Italy go exceptionally well together, so much so, that I think they should merge into one really tasty country. Fritaly?

The last two components are the pasta and cheese. No mozzarella (sorry, although you could add it if you want), but one of the best cheeses to ever grace this earth; Parmigiano-Reggiano (You could substitute less pricey domestic Parmesans, or even Romano or Pecorino Romano, but NOT that stuff in the green can!). Sharp, complex, nutty, slightly sweet, and just salty enough; it’s the king of the hard grating cheeses.

As for the pasta, you just HAVE to make it from scratch for this recipe. If you’re going to go to all the trouble to make the Bolognese, a fresh, homemade pasta will send the final result to the moon. If you can find freshly made lasagna sheets at your local market, Italian grocery or delicatessen, by all means, get some, but this time, I’m doing it myself; the old fashioned way (showing hands; spirit fingers!). No food processor on this blog today!

IF you purchase your lasagna noodles, PLEASE DO NOT BUY and USE NO-BOIL noodles for Lasagna Bolognese! 

The reason is simple. Bolognese sauce is a concentrated meat sauce, and bechamel is a white roux thickened sauce, therefore leaving you with not enough ‘saucy’ liquid to properly cook the noodles, but even if the noodles do properly cook,the no-boil noodles will suck up whatever sauciness you have, which will result in a dryer lasagna bolognese that isn’t all it can be! PLUS, no-boil lasagna noodles are THIN. When cooked in your lasagna bolognese, it’s like eating layers of sauce and cheese with barely any noodle. I don’t know about you guys, but I like some hearty noodle in my lasagna!

That said, I adhere to this rule with all of my lasagnas. Lasagna is just BETTER with precooked noodles. Yes, No-Boil noodles are a convenience, but if you want the best lasagna ever, avoid them and take that extra step of parboiling them or placing them in a heat proof 13×9 pan and pouring boiling water on them..letting them soak for about 20 minutes. Trust me, it’s well worth it!

OK, OK..if you really need to use the No-Boil noodles due to time issues, pour boiling water over them in a bowl or pan to soften them (then blot them dry) before layering them with the sauces and cheeses. Your Lasagna Bolognese should still be magnificent, albeit a little less magnificent.

NO..forget it, just DON’T use them at all.

SO…to get started, I have to credit Francois-Xavier and his incredible blog, FXCuisine for my sudden need to start making this the ‘right’ way, every step from scratch, no dried lasagna noodles from a box. I stumbled upon it when I was looking for some interesting ways to kick a basic lasagna up. Even though I’ve made Lasagna Bolognese many times. and was blessed with a fantastic, handed down recipe for Bolognese sauce, what I saw literally made me gasp with awe and excitement, not to mention, drool a bit.

Francois, I hope this makes you proud, although I’m sorry, I can’t, just can’t add the chicken livers, not even for you. I have issues with them.)

Lasagna Bolognese

Okay, let’s start with the Bolognese sauce, also known as Ragu Bolognese. I didn’t take step-by-step-photos of this process because this post would end up being longer than a moonshot by Babe Ruth. However, here’s a terrible photo of it after being simmered for about 4 to 5 hours, along with the recipe. I usually make this a day ahead, which gives the flavors more time to blend in the fridge. BUT, if you want to see a stellar step-by-step photo tutorial of a Ragu Bolognese, omitting the chicken livers, check it out, starting HERE.

Note – some people use ground lamb in Bolognese, and you can certainly do so if you prefer it over beef (or any of the other meats). Me? No way. I don’t eat lamb. I grew up eating lamb chops, and I never really liked it, until one day I realized, NOPE, I definitely do NOT like it. Too gamy for me.

Lasagna Bolognese (scroll to the end of this post for a printable recipe)

Bolognese Sauce aka Ragu Bolognese (make another half or double of this recipe for a 6 layer lasagna)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3-4 oz pancetta or prosciutto di parma, chopped
• 2 lbs ground beef, OR a combo or ground veal, pork and beef, or two of the three, equaling 2 lbs.
• 28 ounces canned San Marzano tomatoes,- drained and the juice and seeds squeezed from each tomato and discarded so you’re left with only pieces of crushed tomato, as little liquid/juice as possible
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 2 large carrots, finely diced
• 2 large celery stalks, finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red or white wine (your preference)
• 1/2 cup whole milk, heated with cream prior to adding
• 1/4 cup heavy cream, heated with milk prior to adding
• 1 cup chicken stock, or beef stock, or veal stock, or a combo of beef stock and chicken stock to make one cup, heated prior to adding.
• salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil and butter in a large dutch oven or oven proof pot with a cover, then add the onion, celery, and carrot and cook over medium heat until the onion turns pale gold. Add the pancetta or prosciutto, and let it cook down until most of the fat has rendered out, then add the minced garlic, and cook for another minute or two, being careful not to burn the garlic.

2. Pushing the carrots, onions, celery, garlic and pancetta off to the side of the pan (or removing it to a plate for time being), add the beef or combo of ground meats, and let sear until brown (s very important step for flavor)..then start breaking it up and letting it cook until most of the juices have evaporated. Add or push the veggies and pancetta back in with the meat, and let it cook together for another few minutes, until almost dry.

3. Turn the heat up to high and add the white or red wine, scraping up the ‘fond’ (aka flavor aka deglazing) from the bottom of the pan, then let the wine cook down until almost evaporated.

4. Turn your burner down to medium heat and add the tomatoes, breaking them up as you stir them in (or just squeeze them with your hands in a bowl prior to adding them), and let it cook for about 15-20 minutes, while stirring and scraping from the bottom of the pan.

5. Add the stock, cook for 1 minute, and then add the milk and cream and bring to a boil.

6.   Now, you can either let the bolognese simmer on the stove top, uncovered, for about 3 to 5 hours, stirring and keeping watch, OR, do as I learned from Francois at FXCuisine.  It’s so much easier and no burning on the bottom without constant stirring.

Preheat your oven to 250 F while preparing the sauce on the stove top. Bring the bolognese to a boil, then cover and put it in the oven. Let it cook anywhere from 2 to 4 hours (check every hour after 2 to see if it’s cooked down enough for your taste. Also, give it a stir every hour from the start). It should be thick and meaty (thick like oatmeal), with barely any juice or ‘sauciness’. Taste for seasonings, such as salt and pepper.  This is so concentrated and flavorful; I only needed to add some ground black pepper.

NOTE – If you want a faster sauce, preheat the oven to 350 F and only cook it for about 1 to 2 hours at the most.

7.  If you like, remove half or a quarter of the sauce to a separate pot or bowl and use an immersion blender to break it down a little, then add it back into the original sauce and let it cook on the stove top so it reduces down a little more.

Let sauce cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until ready to assemble the lasagna.

Pasta dough

Now, you may have a recipe you prefer, but here’s mine, which I think is ideal for this lasagna since it’s basic (no salt, no oil, water etc)  and it doesn’t need it since the sauces are so rich and flavorful. Also, you may have to double this recipe, or make another half of the recipe to get enough lasagna noodles for 5 to 6 layers (about 15 to 18 sheets). If you want a basic 3-layer lasagna (about 9 to 12 sheets), the below pasta dough recipe will make more than enough pasta sheets for 3 layers.

However when you’re cutting your own lasagna sheets (if you make the pasta from scratch), you can adjust the size to your liking, so you may only need two larger sheets per layer (like you see in my photos),

• 3 1/4 to 3 1/2 cups 00 or All-Purpose flour.
• 4 whole eggs
• 1 egg yolk

1.  Mound the flour on a sturdy board, and make a decent sized well in the middle (think volcano). Crack the eggs into a bowl, and add the egg yolk, to insure no shell gets into the ‘well’. Pour the eggs and yolk into the well and beat very carefully until uniform, making sure you keep those walls of flour intact to hold the pool of beaten eggs in. You don’t want your volcano erupting! OK, I admit it, my ‘volcano’ did start to erupt, but fortunately, I was able to save it in time with some masterful bench scraping. Which brings me to that tip – have a bench scraper on hand just in case!

2. Slowly start to incorporate the flour into the beaten eggs until you have a soft dough. Start to knead the dough, adding more flour from your original ‘volcano’ (You most probably won’t be incorporating all the flour from the volcano into the dough, DO NOT try to force it all in, as you’ll end up with a dry, crumbly bunch of pieces that won’t hold together, and tough pasta to boot), to get a nice, firm but smooth and elastic dough, about 10 minutes.

You can also add the formed dough to your food processor/robocoupe, and finish it off there with a 30 second to 1 minute pulse/run. You can even make the whole dough in the food processor, but you’d have to start out with a lot less flour, and slowly add it to the beaten eggs as the machine is running, until it’s reached the right consistency. However, like I said above..I prefer the old-fashioned way for this lasagna since you’ve already put so much TLC into everything else.

3.  Once the dough is nice, smooth, and yellow to light yellow, wrap it in plastic wrap and let it sit for 20 minutes or more. I refrigerate mine overnight then let it come to room temperature before I start cutting off pieces and rolling, but then again, as mentioned above, I do everything but the bechamel and the rolling of the pasta sheets the day before I make the Lasagna Bolognese.

4. When the dough is ready, start a large pot of water to boiling, (adding salt once it comes to a full boil). Break off or cut off about a golf ball or larger size piece and flatten in your hand, folding it into a small rectangle. (Cover the remaining dough with plastic wrap until you need to cut off another piece).

5. Set your pasta machine at the widest setting, and run it through several times (you may have to flour the piece of dough lightly and sporadically to prevent sticking). Your sort of kneading it again, and making it nice and smooth for the final run through(s). Once it feels silky enough, flour it lightly and turn the knob up to number 2, and run it through a few times, then 3 (this is where I usually stop as you don’t want the sheets too thin since you want some bite to the lasagna and  it’ll be cooking in the oven for about an hour).

Leave your sheets rustic; no trimming (this is down home Italian comfort food, not haute cuisine) and set them somewhere to dry, like a very lightly floured pan, drooping them over the rim, or hang them over some kind of rack. You don’t want them to dry too long since you want them as fresh as possible.

6.  Once you’ve finished, add the pasta sheets, about two to three at a time to the salted, boiling water. Let cook for only 40-50 seconds at most. Immediately transfer them to a large bowl of ice water, using a strainer of some sort (I use a Chinese bamboo skimmer/ strainer), keeping that water in the pot at a rolling boil.  Keep repeating with the rest of the pasta sheets, adding more cold water to the bowl (you may have to use two bowls if the one you have isn’t big enough for all that pasta) each time you add more of the semi-cooked sheets. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of this exciting step! Heh.

7.  Once you’re finished, strain the pasta sheets and place them on several large sheet pans lined with a silpat or parchment paper to dry. You don’t want them to stick together as they dry. Cover each pan with plastic wrap until you’re ready to assemble. OR, let them sit in a bowl of cold water. When ready to assemble the lasagna, you will pull them out and dry each one as you layer the lasagna.

Bechamel Sauce (double, or make another half of this recipe for a 6 layer lasagna)

• 1 stick of unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup of All-Purpose flour
• 4 cups of whole milk, at room temperature
• salt
• fresh ground pepper
• freshly grated nutmeg

1. Heat the milk until almost boiling in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. In a separate pot melt the unsalted butter over low heat, then add the flour all at once. Stir rapidly with a whisk. Cook until you have a uniform blonde roux; do NOT let it brown, even a little. We’re not making gumbo here. 😉

2. Slowly add the hot milk to the roux in increments, whisking until the roux absorbs each; 1/2 to 1 cup of warm milk, in which you’ll keep getting a thicker and thicker paste which will soon start to turn into a sauce. Once you’ve added all the milk, you’ll have a nice, white, creamy lump-free sauce that should coat the back of a spoon.

3. Season with salt, pepper, and a few grates of fresh, whole nutmeg (not too much..taste as you grate). Set aside to cool until you’re ready to assemble the lasagna.

Now it’s time to assemble the lasagna. Get your ‘mise en place’ together – the two sauces, the partially cooked and dry lasagna sheets, and about two cups of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. By the way, don’t throw out the rind of the cheese because it makes a great flavor enhancer for soups, sauces, stews, rice etc. Of course you don’t eat the rind once it’s served its purpose.

From YOUR left to right. The Bechamel sauce, the Bolognese sauce, the freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, and the partially cooked lasagna sheets. Here’s a closer look at that incredible cheese. If I had a better camera and natural light, it would look a lot better.

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

First start with a light layer of sauce on the bottom of a deep 13 x 9 or 10 x 15 baking dish. (I make this lasagna about 5-6 layers deep, but 3 or 4 layers is fine).  You can leave the pasta dough as is, as those amounts are just about right for 3 or 4 layers, and as mentioned above, I usually double that or make another half of the recipe to make 5 or 6 layers. Top the sauce with a few lasagna sheets or whatever amount covers since you’ve kept your lasagna sheets ‘rustic’. Cut sheets in half, if need be.

Top the sheets with a heavier layer of the Bolognese.

Next a layer of Bechamel sauce.

Top the Bechamel with some of the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and then another layer of pasta sheets, then lather, rinse, repeat, until you’ve used up all the sauces, pasta sheets and cheese, ending with the sauces and cheese.

Now it’s ready for the oven. Bake at 350 F for about 45 minutes to an hour. After 30-40 minutes, start checking if it’s ready by sticking a long, thin knife into the center. If the knife comes out hot, it’s ready. Lukewarm, keep cooking. If the top starts to get too brown during the 45 minutes to 1 hour of cooking, cover with aluminum foil for the remainder of the baking time.

Below is the lasagna right from the oven. I know you’ll want to attack this immediately, but let it sit for about 15 minutes, as you don’t want the lasagna oozing all over your plate and in the baking dish. You want a nice, solid hunk so you can savor every layer. Plus, it looks prettier that way, as you’ll see below. Then again, does it really matter? I can never wait so I cut slices before it cools down a bit! I’m just speaking from a food blogger ‘visual’ sense!

Perfect and ready to devour. These plates need no adorning since the lasagna is the rock star. Suffice it to say, this didn’t last very long!