Lasagna recipes there are many and varied but here I propose you my delicious Lasagna recipe, the one that has always been made in the “mia famiglia”! I give you the ingredients for about 6/8 people.
-500g of veal minced meat, 500g of lasagna sheets (without precooking much better!) 1 kg of tomato(pomodoro) peeled whole(if fresh great! but if not a good can of whole peeled or crushed tomato), 1 sprig of celery, 1 carrot, 2 small or 1 large onion, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 glass of red wine, 1 liter of milk, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, 50g of butter, 1 pinch of nutmeg (for the Bechamel), salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf and a good olive oil of course! Ahh and the king of Italian cuisine: Parmigiano Reggiano(or Grana Padano a little cheaper)! at will!!!
The Bolognese sauce (ragù):
First of all I grind all the vegetables (celery, carrots, onions) and put them to poach in a pan with a little virgin olive oil. By the way, before frying the vegetables you can put 1 clove of garlic in the hot oil for a minute (without burning it) so that the oil gets a little bit of flavor. Once done you can remove the garlic. Once the vegetables are poached, add the minced meat and add salt and pepper. When it is half poached, add the glass of red wine (a good sicuro wine!!). The wine helps to aromatize the meat. Once the vegetables and the meat are poached you can add the tomato. Adjust salt, pepper and I like to add a bay leaf that also gives a very good aroma. Once the tomato is incorporated, we have to let the sauce (the ragout) reduce little by little and over low heat… with love!
The béchamel sauce:
In a saucepan pour the whole liter of milk to boil slowly. Set aside a glass of milk and add the 3 tablespoons of cornstarch. Once the milk boils, add the glass of milk with the diluted cornstarch. We turn without stopping until it thickens. The amount of cornstarch varies according to if you like the bechamel sauce thicker or thinner. I recommend that it is not too thick so that it does not dry out once we put the lasagna in the oven. The lasagna will be juicier. Once the béchamel sauce is ready, I like to add a little butter and grate a little nutmeg to flavor it. And of course season it with salt and pepper.
Pasta:
You can use pre-cooked lasagna sheets but in the family we have always used uncooked sheets. A good explanation: the lasagna does not dry out so much once baked because the precooked sheets are hydrated thanks to the juices of both the bechamel sauce and the bolognese sauce. Therefore in the end it can dry out the lasagna and it will not be juicy. I know it is more laborious but the result is much better! it is worth “lavorare” a little more …. .
Take a large pan with plenty of water and bring it to the boil with salt and a drizzle of oil. Once the water boils, add the lasagna sheets to cook for a few minutes (it is better to add the sheets one at a time so that they do not stick together). You take out the lasagna sheets and place them on a clean kitchen towel, one next to the other and spread out so that they do not stick together. Once we have them all ready we can start assembling the lasagna dish!!! phew!!! at last….
Final assembly:
Once you have made the 3 main protagonists of this delicious recipe, I explain how to assemble the dish. Take a bowl and put a little bolognese sauce at the bottom so that there is a liquid background. It will help to prevent anything from sticking. Once this is done we start with the first layer of pasta. We cover the whole surface of the dish. Then we put a few spoonfuls of bolognese sauce (do not forget to remove the bay leaf or the garlic cloves if you have left them poaching with the sauce) and then a few spoonfuls of béchamel. Between each layer I can not fail to put a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese!!! and we proceed in the same way until the end. The last layer has to finish with the bechamel sauce and a lot of “parmiggiano” to gratin. Do not forget a little olive oil on top to help gratin.
Well it is clear that it is not the ideal recipe for diets but it is ideal for a Sunday with the family. It is a recipe delicious that although it gives you a few hours of work then allows you to be with your family while it is slowly baked in the oven! Remember that as all the ingredients are already made, it is not necessary to leave the lasagna in the oven for a long time. Just 20-30 minutes will be enough.
Buon Appetito! Thank you all!
