Lasagna alla Bolognese
This isn't your typical cheesy lasagna recipe. Lasagna alla Bolognese is a rich and hearty yet delicate flavored lasagna made without ricotta cheese or milk. This version uses a simple homemade lasagna pasta that doesn't require boiling. Invite a pan of it to entertain your friends in the cozy seasons!
Servings 12
Equipment
- or hand crank pasta machine optional
Ingredients
Make 1 batch ragu bolognese and while simmering make béchamel (full recipe linked here)
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil more if needed
- 3 oz pancetta I use the diced pancetta from Trader Joe's
- 2 carrots finely diced
- 2 celery finely diced
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2 lbs ground beef I use 80%
- 1 lb ground pork
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup white wine it has to evaporate completely; you can use red if you prefer
- 1 ½ cup chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 28 oz passata
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- freshly grated parmesan cheese
For homemade lasagna noodles (full and step by step instructions linked here
- 2 ⅓ cups 00 flour I use King Arthur's Pizza Flour; see below
- ⅔ cup semolina flour I use Bob's Red Mill semolina flour
- 3 egg yolks + 2 eggs
- 2 T water up to approximately ⅓ cup
Parmesan
- 1 ½ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
- fresh basil leaves for garnish
Instructions
Make the Bolognese sauce
- Heat a large wide dutch oven over medium heat. Add the olive oil and stir in the diced pancetta. Saute in the olive oil until browned but not charred. (That will affect the flavor of the sauce.)Use a slotted spoon to remove the pancetta to a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Set aside.
- Add a little more oil to the pan if it looks too dry. Add the carrots, celery and onion to the pan. Saute the soffritto until cooked and softened a bit for 5-10 min.
- Add the ground meat and the ground pork to the vegetables.Season with the salt and pepper.Using the edge of a wooden spoon, finely mince the meats. Brown (but don't let it get too dark), over medium high heat until cooked about 8 minutes.
- Pour in 1 c wine and the nutmeg and cook until the wine evaporates and the meat is almost dry in the pan. This might take 5 minutes or so. After it does, stir in the tomato paste and melt into the meat. Stir in the passata and chicken stock. Allow to come together and then stir in the cooked pancetta.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest of simmers. The sauce should barely bubble (but it should bubble.)Simmer the bolognese for 3 hours on the lowest temperature.Add pasta water and a pat of butter at the end.
Make the bechamel
- Over medium heat, start melting butter in medium saucepan. Add flour stirring with a whisk continuously until a thick paste forms. Continue cooking for about 2-3 minutes until lightly browned and flour taste is cooked off.Carefully add milk while stirring with a whisk. Bring to a low boil and then lower heat to medium low. Cook stirring often until sauce has thickened and coats the back of a metal spoon evenly. Cool until still pourable.
Make the lasagna noodles
- Follow the complete instructions in the lasagna dough post and cut the dough into 12 pieces (to make 12 noodles or 6 really long noodles cut in half). Roll the noodles using a stand mixer pasta attachment or hand crank pasta machine. You want them to be thin enough that when you hold a noodle up to a light or window, you can see the shadow of your hand behind the noodle.No time to make homemade lasagna noodles? Use no boil lasagna noodles (I use Barilla's).
Assemble the lasagna repeating these 3 layers:
- In a large baking dish (9" x 12 or 13"), spread 1 cup of Béchamel to coat the whole bottom of the pan. This is a base layer not to be repeated until instructed below.Top with at least 2 noodles (uncooked whether homemade or store-bought). It's ok if they slightly overlap.Layer on at least 2 big ladles of Bolognese sauce. You want to cover the noodles.Spread on 1 cup of béchamel and use a inset spatula to evenly cover the Bolognese. You can slightly mix it in if you want.Sprinkle over a generous layer of Parmesan (about 1/2 cup)Repeat this sequence 2-3 more times depending on the size of your baking dish.
- For the final layer: spread over 1 cup of bechamel followed by another a generous sprinkling of parmesan before baking (about 1/2 cup again).
Bake the lasagna
- Preheat the oven to 350° and set the racks to the middle of the oven.
- Cover with foil and bake on the center rack at 350° for 40 minutes. Remove the foil to finish baking another 20 minutes until puffed, crispy and golden. Use a sharp knife to check that the center is steaming. You'll know the lasagna is done when the center rises like the sides.
