Lasagna Bolognese (Lasagna Al Forno)
"Even though my roots are from Western Europe, I feel my blood is full of Italian.....can't get enough! If you want to wow them, put the extra time into this recipe. Make ahead and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. First is a Sugo di carne (tomato sauce), then a Balsamella sauce (Italian white sauce). Update 4/2010: Due to 2 comments I'm suggesting you use 3-4 T flour to thicken sauce but not too thick that it won't pour easily on top, if too thick, add a little milk a tablespoons at a time. Hope this helps!"
photo by Jer3m1ah
- Ready In:
- 2hrs 5mins
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
9
ingredients
- 44.37 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 44.37 ml butter
- 236.59 ml onion, finely diced
- 78.78 ml carrot, finely diced
- 59.14 ml celery, finely diced
- 1 garlic clove, diced (more if you like garlic)
- 59.14 ml dry white wine
- salt
- pepper
- 591.47 ml tomatoes, pureed in a blender
- 0.25 ml nutmeg
- 29.58 ml milk or 29.58 ml heavy cream
- 59.16 ml butter
- 44.37-59.16 ml flour
- 532.32 ml milk
- salt
- 198.44 g parmigiano-reggiano cheese, freshly grated (divided)
- 0.25 ml nutmeg
directions
- TOMATO SAUCE.
- Place oil and butter in a saucepan, and turn the heat to medium.
- When the butter starts foaming, add the diced onion, carrot, celery, and garlic.
- Sauté and stir until the onion is soft and translucent.
- This is the time to add the ground meat if using.
- Stir with a wooden spoon, and break the meat into small bits. Cook until the meat is fully browned.
- Add the wine, salt and pepper (to taste). Turn the heat to high, and let the wine evaporate. (Posting of 1/4 cup wine would not register correctly when entering recipe).
- Add the tomato, nutmeg, and milk (milk helps cut down on acidity). When the sauce starts boiling, turn the heat to low.
- Cover the saucepan and simmer slowly for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- WHITE SAUCE.
- Place butter in a saucepan and turn the heat to low. When the butter is melted, remove the saucepan from the stove.
- Add the flour, stirring continuously until golden.
- Add the milk a little at a time. Put the saucepan back on the stove and slowly stir with a wooden spoon, until the sauce starts boiling and becomes thicker.
- Turn heat off. Add salt to taste, and stir in the 1 oz. grated parmigiano cheese and pinch of nutmeg.
- PASTA.
- Begin cooking lasagna pasta in salted water as directed on package. Prepare al dente. To stop the cooking process, run cold water over drained pasta.
- While pasta is cooking, begin.
- PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease heavily a large 13x9 baking dish.
- Spread 2-3 Tbs. of tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish.
- Place one layer of pasta over sauce in dish.
- Spread with tomato sauce but not so thick you can't see pasta showing thru.
- Spread with Balsamella white sauce. Try to pour as evenly as possible but don't blend. Not all tomato sauce should be covered.
- Top with 2 ozs grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.
- Repeat two times.
- Top layer will be a beautiful marble of white sauce over the tomato sauce.
- Bake for about 25 – 30 minutes. Doneness is when you fork the lasagna, it will pull out easily from the pasta.
- Serve hot.
Questions & Replies
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Reviews
-
Perhaps the white sauce didn't thicken because chef wrote step 11 twice but must have meant to add flour instead at step 12! Eh, chef/. -
This is a wonderful recipe!! I made it with a friend (who is fantastically Italian) who called her Grandmother a few times for some help (We couldn't get the white sauce to thicken at first). This was the BEST lasagna I have ever had, EVER. Well worth the effort and time. I will be making this again, and again.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Southern Lady
East Texas, 0
<p>I live with my husband of 20 years and two high school teenagers in the rolling hills of East Texas. We have 22 acres outside several small farming/ranching/oil communities, with 1-1/2 acre pond, 5 big dogs that swim the waters (and 1 who's old and sleeps all day inside), and a mama doe who has a set of twins each year. I'm a movie enthusiast and my passion is writing (novels and screenplays). Over the past 2 years I've picked up painting and love it. When my kids are out of college in 6 years, my husband and I plan to travel extensively. I'd love to relocate temporarily to different ares of the USA and world, just so I can absorb the culture (and write about them). My whole life has been centered around food to show love and to socialize, so when I travel I'll search for the best foods and absorb the richness of the people. In the book Beach Music by Pat Conroy, you can taste the foods and drinks of the piazzas in Rome down to the detail of the Southern cuisine in S. Carolina. When I grow up, I want to write as beautifully as Mr. Conroy. My favorite cookbooks are those put together as church or other fundraisers. There's nothing better than a church potluck dinner, so you're almost gauranteed excellent recipes. I love cooking but hate the clean up, so my plans are when I earn the publishing $$big bucks$$, I'll hire a full-time housekeeper so I may cook to my heart's delight and not get frustrated over a messy kitchen. I love experimenting and trying new recipes, but my DH is a meat & potatoes man, thus prefers the basics. One of my children has been a self-professed vegetarian for 11 years, making dinner time a real treat to prepare. I've read somewhere that your pet peeve is usually something of which you're frequently guilty, so I'm a little hesitant to say; however, mine would be inconsiderate people. So, I try on a daily basis to put a smile on someone's face by doing the right thing and setting a good example for children.</p>
