It’s gonna be cold this weekend. Why not stay home and make lasagna?
Scroll down for the recipe.
Ragù Bolognese
| 1 lb | mild Italian sausage |
| 1 lb | hot Italian sausage |
| 1 lb | ground beef |
| kosher salt | |
| fresh ground pepper | |
| 2 T | extra virgin olive oil |
| 4 rashers | bacon, chopped |
| 1 | med onion, shredded |
| 1 stalk | celery, very finely chopped |
| 1 lg | carrot, peeled and shredded |
| 5-8 cloves | garlic, thinly sliced |
| 6 oz can | tomato paste |
| 1 c | red wine |
| 28 oz can | whole peeled San Marzano Tomatoes |
| 1 c | beef broth |
| 1 c | whole milk |
Preheat oven to 225°F. Remove sausage from casings, mix with beef with your hands in a large bowl, seasoning with salt and pepper. Make 20 or so meatballs, they don’t have to be perfect.
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high. I use my biggest 12 L Creuset pot for this, but a pot even half the size will do. Working in 2-3 batches, brown meatballs on as many sides as you can until browned all over. Be careful to adjust your heat to avoid any burning. Transfer to a baking sheet. This might seem like a lot of extra work, but browning meatballs gives the ragù a nice chunky texture.
Reduce heat to medium, add bacon and sauté until it just starts to brown. Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6-8 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste darkens, about 2 minutes. Add wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until nearly evaporated, 4-5 minutes. Add tomatoes, crushing with your hands, and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid is jammy and reduced by about half, 8-10 minutes. Add broth and milk and return the meatballs to pot. Bring to a simmer. Cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and transfer to the oven. Bake the sauce (no need to stir, do check after an hour or so to ensure liquid is at a low simmer, adjusting oven temperature as needed) until meatballs are falling-apart tender, 3-4 hours.
Chop or break the meatballs coarsely, season with salt and pepper. You should have about 8 cups sauce. Reduce over medium-low heat, if necessary
Béchamel
| ½ c | butter |
| ¼ c | all-purpose flour |
| 6 c | whole milk |
| 1 c | grated Parmesan |
| pinch | cayenne pepper |
| pinch | ground nutmeg |
Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook, whisking occasionally, until flour begins to smell a bit nutty, about 4 minutes. Quickly whisk in milk and increase heat to medium-high. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook, whisking occasionally, until smooth and velvety, about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in the cheese, cayenne and nutmeg (you should have about 6 cups). Season with salt and pepper.
Transfer to a large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and use within 1 hour or chill.
Lasagna
| 1lb pkg | lasagne noodles |
| 16 oz pkg | (or equivalent) ricotta |
| 4 c | shredded mozzarella |
| 1 c | grated parmesan |
Preheat oven to 325°F. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally and separating noodles so they don’t stick to each other, until just starting to soften but still snap in half rather than bend when folded; 3 minutes is the magic number. They will be so firm it will just seem all wrong, but this is what separates al dente lasagna layers from gummy ones. Transfer noodles to a large bowl of cold water to cool. Drain and lie flat in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheet, separated by parchment or wax paper.
Lightly oil a 9×13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Spread 1½ cups sauce in dish. Lay a single layer of noodles over sauce (you will need to cut some noodles in half in order to fill the gaps). Spoon 1¼ cups béchamel over noodles, spreading in an even layer with a small offset spatula. Blob on several tablespoons of ricotta. Top béchamel and ricotta with 1½ cups ragù. Repeat, creating 4-6 layers depending on your pan and ending with remaining 1 cup béchamel. Top with mozzarella and grated parmesan. It should come right to the top edge of the dish, and the top layer of pasta will get super crunchy when baked.
Cover with a lightly oiled piece of foil and set on a rimmed baking sheet (just to catch drips). Bake lasagna until bubbling gently around the edges, about 1 hour. Remove from oven and increase oven temperature to 425°F; carefully place rack in top of oven. Uncover and continue to bake until the top is browned and crisp around the edges, 10-15 minutes.
Let sit at least 15 minutes before serving.
Serves 8-12.