Classic Lasagna Recipe

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Full recipe

There are many Italian dishes known around the world. Among this list is lasagna, along with pizza, spaghetti, and risotto.

Lasagna is a layered casserole using pasta.

Of all the variations of this recipe, I most like the classic one, based on béchamel and bolognese sauces. It’s the one I want to share with you, because it’s quite simple and incredibly delicious. First, you need to prepare the above two sauces, and then put everything together in a baking dish. If your kitchen and options allow you, you can make bolognese and béchamel at the same time, but for convenience, I will describe the preparation in turn.

Let’s start with the meat sauce – it’s bolognese.

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Finely chop the onion (1 pc) and garlic (3 cloves) and begin to fry them over low heat, adding olive oil (3 tbsp).

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We need to achieve transparency, when the onion loses its sharpness and only the sweetness remains. When a slight golden color appears, increase the heat on the burner and add the minced meat (800 g).

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I use a pork and beef mixture, but you can use any other to your liking: pork, beef, turkey, chicken. We break up the mince with a spatula, so that there are no large lumps. Fry it for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally so that the onion does not start to burn.

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When the meat is light, which means it is cooked, pour in red wine (100 ml). I had an open semi-dry, but you can also use dry. Roast the meat with wine for 3-5 minutes, until the liquid evaporates, leaving the meat with a gorgeous flavor and aroma.

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Now add the tomato paste, sauce or juice. I think it is clear that each of the listed options has a different level of liquid, so in the case of paste or sauce it must be compensated by the necessary amount of water. I put tomato sauce (4 tbsp) and added 100 ml of water.

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I should note that tomato paste can give a slight bitterness and earthy taste, so you should fry it a little, right after adding it to the sauce. Only then can you add water.

Fact

Continue to keep the bolognese on the heat until the excess liquid evaporates. At the same time, we do not need to make the mince too dry either. Therefore, a few minutes after adding the tomatoes will be enough. Also at this stage add salt (1.5 tsp), black pepper (0.5 tsp), preferably freshly ground and dry basil (4 leaves).

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Ready bolognese turns out quite greasy, with a rich meat flavor and the aroma of wine and herbs.

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Now move on to the bechamel sauce.

Pour the flour (5 tbsp) into a thick-bottomed pan or saucepan. Place on medium heat and stir constantly, using a whisk or spatula, keep for about 1 minute. The flour should start to turn golden, but not burning.

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Next, add butter (100 g) and continue to stir vigorously. We need to achieve the consistency of mush, when the flour and butter turn into a homogeneous mixture.

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The heat-treated mixture of butter and flour is called “roux” and is the basis for a large number of sauces, including béchamel.

Interesting

To cook the béchamel sauce, start pouring the milk (1 liter) into the roux, stirring constantly. Pour very thinly, so that no lumps form.

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Thus bring the sauce to a boil and simmer until it thickens. When the consistency resembles drinking yogurt, we have reached the desired result.

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It remains to add a pinch of salt and nutmeg (¼ tsp.).

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Stir the sauce and proceed to prepare the cheese. Grate cheese (300 g) on a coarse grater. I usually use Gouda – it melts perfectly and has a mild cheese flavor, without any spiciness, which could interfere with the béchamel. If you want, you can increase the amount of cheese twice as much.

Let’s move on to the most important process – assembling the lasagna. There is nothing complicated here, we just stack all the ingredients in layers. Immediately try to intuitively divide the ingredients into the required number of layers. I will have 5, so the distribution is as follows: 4 parts bolognese, 6 parts béchamel, 5 parts cheese and lasagna sheets.

First, grease the bottom of the mold with our cream sauce. This is done so that the bottom sheet is completely moistened by the end of cooking.

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Often there are recipes where the sheets of lasagna are boiled beforehand, but believe me, this is not necessary if you do it right. Place the sheets of pasta on top of the béchamel.

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On top is a layer of minced meat, which we smear with sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.

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Spread all the ingredients evenly over the entire surface of the bowl. Repeat this procedure 4 times until we have 1 batch of dough, cheese and béchamel sauce left.

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Now lay everything out in the previous order, but skipping the meat sauce. This is how we make the top for the lasagna.

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Bake the lasagna in the oven at 180°. It takes about 40 minutes to cook completely.

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During this time, the dough will become moist and will definitely not be soggy. Also, the lasagna will exchange all the flavors and aromas and become a complete dish. It is best to bake on the lower mode so that the cheese does not start to burn. The “top + bottom” mode or only “top” mode can be turned on 5 minutes before the end of cooking to get a golden crust.

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The finished lasagna, according to the classic recipe, turns out incredibly tasty, juicy and you can hardly stop at one bite.

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This is a complete stand-alone dish, which is served as a second course.

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I’m sure you’ve seen that cooking lasagna at home is easy. All the ingredients are available to everyone, and the whole process is broken down into elementary steps. So be sure to go grocery shopping and repeat the Italian classic in your kitchen.

Bon appetit! Don’t starve 😋