Lasagna Bolognese

Here I come with one more dish that uses the two super versatile sauces that I recently posted - Bechamel and Bolognese sauce. 


This is lasagna as I know it - layers of bubbly mozzarella cheese, meat and white sauces, and flat sheets of pasta - all topped with nutty Parmigiano Reggiano.


This might seem like a time consuming dish, buy remember that you can make the Bolognese sauce a couple of days in advance, or you can do it like me and always keep it in your freezer - that way you can make this delicious lasagna in no time.

Lasagna Bolognese


For the Bolognese sauce

Ingredients

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 large carrot, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

5 garlic cloves, chopped
obs.: to make life easier, you may use a food processor to chop it all

1 pound of ground beef

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 cup of red wine

26.5oz tomato sauce

4 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 1/2cups of low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cube of chicken bouillion

1 tablespoon of cognac or brandy

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

½ teaspoon of brown sugar

Black pepper to taste

¼ of teaspon of red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves (dry or fresh)

1 teaspoon of dried oregano (or 2 teaspoons of fresh oregano)

½ teaspoon of dried thyme (or 1 teaspoon or fresh thyme)

optional: kalamata olives, capers, parmegiano reggiano rind for cooking

Lots of fresh basil for serving.

Preparation

Place a heavy bottomed pan over medium- high heat. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil. When the oil is hot add the ground beef and cook it, sitirring it often, until golden brown.

Now add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Stirr it all around and cook it until the onion starts to get transluscent (about 5 minutes).

Bring the heat to medium and add 1 ½ cups of red wine to the pot. Stir the wine around while scraping the bottom of the pan. Alow the wine to reduce for about 8 minutes. Stir in the tomato sauce and tomato paste, the cognac,the beef broth, the salt, peppers and sugar, and finally the spices (bay leaves, oregano and thyme). If using cheese rind, olives, and/or capers, you may add them at this point. Cover the pot and cook the bolognese for 2 hours over very low heat. Check and adjust salt and pepper, if necessary. Discard cheese rind, if using it.

Important: During the 2 hours of cooking time, occasionally stir the sauce to make sure it is not stucking to the bottom of the pan and to check is enough liquid. You can always add more beef broth or water, if needed.




For the Bechamel Sauce



Ingredients:

3 cups of milk
1/2 of a yellow onion
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of grounded white pepper
1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg


Place milk, onion, and bay leaf in a pot and bring it to a simmer.

Meanwhile heat a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat. Add butter and flour to the pan and stir it around until the mixture is a deep golden color. Turn down the heat to medium-low and slowly add the simmering milk (discard onion and bay leaf) into the flour and butter mixture whisking it constantly to avoid big lumps to form. You should have a smooth, creamy sauce. Finally add salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Continue to cook it for another 6 minutes so all the flavors can combine. Turn off the heat.

For assembling the lasagna

I addition to the two sauces above, you will need flat sheets of pasta (I used Barilla dried pasta). You may also use fresh sheets of pasta (you can make it at home or buy it at a Italian Food store, I buy it at Broder's Deli, in Minneapolis). You will also need lots of shredded mozzarella and some Parmesan for topping.


Now you can choose how big of a lasagna or how many, you want to make. I used a shallow 12x7 baking dish, so I had left over Bolognese and pasta. But if you use a deep 12x7, you will probably use all the sauces. If you end up with left over Bolognese, go ahead and freeze it.

Start by greasing your baking sheet with butter or olive oil, than add Bolognese sauce, top with pasta sheets, than Bechamel, than lots of mozzarella cheese. Keep repeating the layers until you fill the baking dish. The last layer should have lots of mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. I also like so sprinkle some dried oregano all over the top.
Important: make sure to add plenty of liquid from the Bolognese sauce during the layering process. The pasta is going to absorb that liquid while it cooks in the oven. Otherwise you will end up with dried out lasagna:(

After you are done layering the lasagna, cover it tightly with heavy duty aluminium foil and place it in the pre-heated oven. Cook it for about 50 minutes, remove the foil and continue to cook the lasagna until the top is golden brown. Just like this:

Wait about 12 minutes for all the juices to settle before cutting into it. Enjoy!