This particular recipe comes very close for two reasons. One, it uses a bechamel sauce instead of ricotta (which seems to be the bone of contention for most lasagna haters out there) - it's very creamy, and not at all gritty like ricotta can be. That said, I will have a separate post touting the virtues of homemade ricotta vs. the "stuff" you buy in the store....but that's another day.
Two, the sauce is not overly tomato-ey, and lets the other flavors come out.
It is definitely not a quick meal to prepare. It helps immensely if the sauce can be made the day before the meal - then all that is left to do is whip up the bechamel, cook the noodles, and assemble the lasagna.
The recipe doesn't call for it - but I like to criss-cross my noodles. One layer going the long direction, one going the short direction, and so on...
A side note about food blogging... Much more time intensive with photos. It's not negligible to drag the camera out to get photos of raw ingredients and/or the steps in the process. If it didn't improve the final product so much, I might scrap it all together. Hence the time lag between posts; I can only hope it gets to be second nature soon.
Lasagna Bolognese
adapted from Tyler Florence's Dinner at My Place cookbook
Recipe calls for homemade pasta - I used dry.
Bolognese
- 2 carrots, cut in large pieces
- 1 large onion, cut in large pieces
- 3 celery ribs, cut in large pieces
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled
- 4 fresh sage sprigs, leaves only
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- salt and pepper
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 (750 ml) bottle dry red wine (Maria's note: I used about half this much)
- 28 ounces whole tomatoes
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
Bechamel
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 garlic cloves, peeled
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
- salt and pepper
- 1 lb buffalo mozzarella, torn in pieces (Maria's note: I've used both fresh and traditional moz)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 1Make the Bolognese. Put onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and sage in a food processor and process until you have a smooth vegetable pulp. Coat a large, heavy pot with oil and set over medium heat. Add vegetable pulp and saute until fragrant and some of the moisture has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Push the vegetable mixture to one side of the pan. Season ground beef and pork with salt and pepper and add to pan. Stir and break up meat until it is brown, then dust with the flour before adding wine, tomatoes, milk, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer about 1 1/2 hours, uincovered, until sauce is thick. Add parmesan and parsley and season with salt and pepper if needed. Set aside while you make the bechamel.
- 2To make the bechamel, set a large saucepan over medium heat. Add milk, garlic, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer to infuse milk with herbs. set a large saucepan over medium low heat. Add butter and melt, then sprinkle with flourwhile stirring with a wooden spoon. Once flourhas been combined with butter, grab a whisk and gradually pour in the herb infused milk, passing it through a sieve to strain out the aromatics. As the sauce thickens, continue to whisk over low heat, then add nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper and set aside to cool slightly.
- 3Preheat oven to 350°F To assemble the lasagna, cut fresh pasta to fit pan if needed. Coat the bottom of a 13x9 pan with a thin layer of bechamel. Top with a layer of lasagna noodles. Top noodles with a layer each of bechamel, bolognese, and mozzarella pieces. Continue with layers until you have three complete layers, finishing with mozzarella.Sshower the top of the lasagna with parmesan and parsley. Bake, uncovered, on a tray ( to catch drippings) in the center of the over for 1 hour. If the top starts to brown tent with foil. Let the lasagna stand for
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