I love to watch and
listen to cooking shows… one that I often look forward to is The Splendid
Table. Once while driving to some place where I more than likely had all 15
kids and wasn’t in a very good mood…
Then again… I am usually
never in one,
Besides stating the
obvious and getting back to my point, Lynne Rossetto Kasper was talking about a Bolognese sauce…
I stopped screaming at a kid when I heard her talking about it.. Something
about sauces cooking for more than 20 minutes peaks my interests… and for about
10 minutes the kids didn’t get a lecture and I was imagining what it would
taste like..
I am a firm believer when you cook certain ingredients
for a long period of time the flavors have time to come alive and develop.. melting
together and creating a dish that was well worth the time and effort..
That is until
you walk off on the phone completely forgetting you have a sauce on the stove
bubbling away… ten minutes later, have
to get off that phone to break up a fight… send one kid to bed.. send the other
to finish their cleaning chore.. and start smelling a wonderful smell laced
with burning pot….
Not that I
have ever done that… just saying it could happen.
So because of
those ten minutes of pure listening bliss I’ve been toying with this idea of
making lasagna bolognese for months. Once I had the chance to make it I jumped
on it.. actually more like waddled over and sat on the idea so it wouldn’t get
away..
Before I
share this I must warn you… this isn’t a recipe you start at 3 pm hoping for it
to be done for dinner at 5… this is more of start at 11 am and then it will be done for 5. but don’t shy away… it is just time.. not a
lot of work…
Usually the
recipes I share feed about 4… and since we are a big family I always double..
so everything in the pictures are for a doubled portion… mind you I had enough
for a 9x13 pan, a oval 12 inch pan and a small casserole dish….
First we need
to make our soffritto
diced, onions, carrots and celery
Sautee
till onions are golden
Add
the beef, pork, and sausage give it a good stir and start browning
Once
your meat is browned add your tomatoes…
Realize
your pot is way too small transfer into larger pot.. or just start off with a
larger pot to begin with
Next
add the salt
Milk
and simmer for 4 hours… stirring every 20 minutes…
Now for the Béchamel sauce… it is important to follow the
instructions here… the first time I made it I thought I was being smart by just
adding the milk and butter together and then adding the flour…
NO!!! do as the
recipe calls for… you will thank me later
Milk in large pot, heat till almost boiling
Meanwhile melt butter…
Add flour
Cook for one minute..
Add half of the hot milk to the butter/ flour
Panic and forget to take the next pictures because you
are too busy trying to stir and have a lump free sauce.. somewhere in there add
some salt… the rest of the milk and keep stirring until you have a thick sauce…
some people like nutmeg or cinnamon added to the sauce.. I for one like to
leave it alone.
Here I have my assembly station , home made noodles, Béchamel, Bolognese, and
parmesan cheese
Spray or oil pan
Layer of noodles
A thick layer of meat
sauce
Noodle and then a layer
of béchamel and parm. Cheese sprinkled over
Repeat till no more
sauces or run outta room in your pan and move onto the next one like I did..
Do layer it how you
want.. I’ve seen it noodle, both sauces, then noodle, both sauces…so on … top layer always has béchamel and parmesan
cheese.
Cook at 350 for 30
minutes or until top is browned lightly.
Ingredients
Bolognese
Sauce:
- 2 oz. Diced pancetta, finely chopped
- 1 Medium Spanish onion or yellow onion,
finely chopped
- 1 Stalk celery, finely chopped
- 1 Carrot, finely chopped
- 4 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 11 oz Ground beef
- 4 oz Ground pork
- 4 oz Ground Italian sausage
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 2 lb peeled and chopped tomatoes (or 1 28-oz
can whole peeled tomatoes)
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Béchamel
Sauce:
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup all-purpose unbleached flour
Lasagna:
- Enough lasagna noodles to make four layers
in a 13x9-inch baking pan with the lasagna pieces overlapping each other a
little bit.
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Method
Prepare the
Bolognese Meat Sauce
1 Make the soffritto.
Combine pancetta, onion, celery, and carrot in sauté pan with butter and cook
over medium heat until onion turns pale gold.
2 Add the beef, pork,
sausage to the soffritto, and increase the heat to high; cook until browned.
3 Stir in tomatoes, bring
to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium. Cook over medium heat for 15
minutes. If you are using whole canned tomatoes, break them up as you add them
to the sauce.
4 Add milk and season with
sea salt. Then turn down the heat and let simmer for 4 and 1/2 hours. Stir at
least every 20 minutes. Whenever the sauce simmers down to the point that it is
sticking to the bottom of the pan, just add 1/4 cup of water and scrape up the
browned bits from the bottom and continue to cook.
Make the
Béchamel sauce.
5 Heat the milk until
almost boiling in a heavy bottomed sauce pan. In a separate pan melt the
unsalted butter with the flour over low heat. Stir rapidly with a spoon. Cook
this for 1 minute and then remove from the heat.
6 Slowly add half the hot
milk to your butter and flour mixture. During this process stir constantly.
7 Return the milk, butter,
flour mixture to low heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the remaining
milk slowly while stirring working it into the thickened sauce. Continue to
stir until it comes to a boil.
8 Season with some sea
salt, and continue stirring until the right consistency has developed. If any
lumps form, beat them out rapidly with a whisk until they dissolve. Remove from
heat.
Prepare the
Lasagna
9 Preheat oven to 375°F.
Cook the lasagna according to instructions. About 8 minutes in 6 quarts of
boiling salted water. Drain, rinse with cold water. Lay the individual lasagna
noodles out on kitchen towels, not touching, so they do not stick together while
you layer the casserole.
10 Spread a little olive
oil around the inside of a 13x9-inch baking pan. Make sure your baking pan is non-reactive - pyrex or
stainless steel. Do not use an aluminum pan as it will react with the acidity
of the sauce and ruin the flavor. Put a layer of lasagna noodles
down first. Layer on a third of the bolognese sauce, then a third of the
bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Repeat two more times. Top with
a final layer of noodles and sprinkle with grated Parmesan.
11 Tent the casserole with
aluminum foil. Put lasagna into the middle rack of a pre-heated 375°F oven.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the top begins to get lightly browned. Remove
from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
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