Lasagne alla Bolognese

This classic recipe consists of pasta layered with meat sauce (Ragù or bolognese sauce) and a creamy sauce (béchamel sauce). It is very easy and enjoyable to assemble especially if you do it with your kids.

What makes the difference for this dish is the ragù: You cannot find one perfect bolognese sauce recipe, every mother, every grandmother; every cook has his own personal recipe. What also really elevates this dish to a higher level is freshly homemade pasta!

Cooking time: 2 hours

Prep time: 30 mins

Ingredients for 4 to 6 people

What do you need?

• About 12 sheets of dried of freshly homemade lasagna sheets.

• A double Recipe of our Béchamel Sauce.

• 50 gr of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

For the Ragù:

• 500 gr lean minced beef

• 150 gr of finely chopped pork belly (pancetta)

• 1 carrot

• 1 celery coast

• 200 gr of onion

• 2 garlic cloves

• 2 cloves

• 1 pinch of nutmeg

• 50 gr of tomato paste (doppio concentrato di pomodoro)

• ½ glass of dry white wine

• 1 glass of broth

• 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper to taste

• Finely chopped sage, rosemary and thyme

How to proceed?

Step1: prepare the ragù

1. In a pot over medium heat fry the bacon with a little oil.

2. Finely chop the carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Add them to the bacon and let it fry for few minutes.

3. Add the minced meat, chopped herbs, a pinch of nutmeg, cloves and cook over high heat until the meat water dries.

4. Add the wine and let it evaporate around 3 minutes.

5. Add the tomato paste, broth, salt and pepper.

6. Cover lower the heat and simmer for as long as you can ideally for 1.5 hours.

Step2: prepare the béchamel sauce

1. Follow our béchamel sauce recipe and prepare a double portion .

Step3: prepare the pasta

1. If using dried lasagne sheets, cook them for few minutes in boiling water in batches according to the packet instructions.

2. Lift up with a slotted spoon and drain well.

3. If you are using fresh pasta, it doesn’t need precooking and it is used in the recipe as it is.

Step4- assemble the lasagne

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C

2. Spoon one third of the ragù into a rectangular baking dish.

3. Cover with 4 sheets of lasagne.

4. Spread 1/3 of the béchamel sauce.

5. Sprinkle with some parmesan cheese.

6. Repeat twice more finishing with the layer of béchamel covering the whole top.

7. Sprinkle generously with grated parmesan cheese.

8. Bake in the preheated oven for about 45 minutes until brown and bubbling.

9. Remove from oven and let it sit and firm up for at least 10 minutes before serving .