Lasagna Recipe - Classic & Simple
The original lasagna with Bolognese and béchamel sauce tastes just like in Italy. At home, you can easily prepare the creamy, delicious, savory pasta classic with a golden-brown cheese crust from the oven.
By Mise En Place Team
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 75 minutes
Servings: 6
Tags: Main Course, Pasta, Easy, Main dish
Ingredients
- 8 piece Lasagna sheets, uncooked
- 150 g Parmesan, freshly grated
- Butter
- 500 g Mixed ground meat
- 400 g Tomato purée
- 50 g Belly pork
- 150 g Onions
- 50 g Carrot
- 50 g Celery stalk (cleaned)
- 200 ml Whole milk
- 40 g Butter
- 1 tbsp Vegetable oil, neutral
- 1 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 piece Bay leaf, dried
- tsp Nutmeg, grated
- Salt and black pepper from the mill
- 500 ml Milk
- 25 g Flour
- 25 g Butter
- Salt
- Black pepper from the mill
- Nutmeg, freshly grated
Instructions
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C top / bottom heat in good time. Grate 150 g of Parmesan and set aside in the refrigerator.
- 2. FOR THE BOLOGNESE SAUCE: Cut the 50 g belly pork (Pancetta) into very small cubes. Peel 2-3 onions and 1 carrot and cut into fine cubes. Remove the green from 1 celery stalk, wash and cut into very fine cubes.
- 3. Now heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a saucepan and sauté the belly pork cubes (Pancetta) alone for 1-2 minutes. Then add the 40 g butter, the onion, carrot and celery cubes to the pot and let everything sauté on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Stir well so that the vegetables are well coated with fat.
- 4. Add 500 g of mixed ground meat, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper from the mill. Crumble the meat with a wooden spoon and cook on medium heat until it no longer looks raw and red, do not sear it too much or it will become dry.
- 5. Then stir in 1 tbsp tomato paste, deglaze with 200 ml whole milk and let the milk almost boil down / evaporate. Add 1 pinch of grated nutmeg and stir occasionally.
- 6. Add 400 g tomato purée and 1 bay leaf. Then mix everything well together and simmer over medium heat, with the lid half open, for at least 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding a splash of milk or water if necessary.
- 7. Finally, season with salt and black pepper from the mill. NOTE: If you have the time, you can let it simmer longer. In Italian cuisine, a Bolognese sauce, because it is a stew, is simmered for at least 3 hours. Because the longer it simmers, the more flavors develop. Stir occasionally and add some milk or water if necessary.
- 8. FOR THE BÉCHAMEL SAUCE: Melt 25 g butter in a (ideally coated) saucepan. Add 25 g flour and sauté for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk or wooden spoon.
- 9. Then gradually pour in the 500 ml milk, stirring constantly and quickly, and turn the stove on a little higher, bring to a boil briefly and simmer until the sauce thickens. Stir occasionally!
- 10. Season vigorously with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg. NOTE: According to the cooking textbook, the milk should be warmed and lukewarm for a béchamel to succeed. However, I usually use it straight from the refrigerator, in my experience it also works, it just takes a little longer until it thickens.
- 11. LAYER & BAKE LASAGNA: Grease your baking dish with some butter and spread about 1 to 2 tbsp of béchamel sauce on the bottom. Then start layering: Spread the uncooked lasagna sheets on the bottom and fill the gaps with broken pieces if necessary.
- 12. Add a full ladle of Bolognese sauce and spread so that all the pasta sheets are covered with it. Add 2 to 3 tbsp of béchamel sauce to the Bolognese sauce and spread, and sprinkle evenly with Parmesan.
- 13. Continue layering in this way, with the mentioned size of the baking dish there will be about 4 layers. Finish with plenty of béchamel sauce, spread the remaining Parmesan cheese over it and distribute 1 tbsp of butter in flakes on top.
- 14. Bake in the preheated oven on the second rack from the bottom for about 30 minutes. Remove the lasagna from the oven in the dish and let it rest for about 10 minutes, then it will be easier to cut.