Lasagna is one of the best dishes out there! I find it so relaxing to make, and it’s probaly my favourite meal to put together. It involves so many lovely ingredients and great techniques, and is a wonderful meal to make for someone you love!
The History of Lasagna
Lasagna, in it’s modern form, originated in Bologa in Emilia-Romagna. This city is famous for a few of it’s culinary contributions, not least Bolognese! The origins of lasagna go back way further than this though. It’s earliest origins can be traced back to similar dishes from the ancient Greeks and ancient Romans, called Laganon and Lasanum respectively. These held similarities to the modern dish in that they were made from layers of pasta with a sauce. This sauce was likely quite different though!
Over time, the dish has moved on significantly. It has become one of the most famous baked pasta dishes, or pasta al forno. It has also now become a codified dish in the Accademia Italiana della Cucina, although there are still many variations. The classic recipe is with spinach pasta, bechemel sauce and ragu alla Bolognese. Many other versions exist with plain pasta for example, or using ricotta instead of bechemel.
My Recipe
I make lasagna quite similarly to the traditional recipe. I do use a bechemel sauce, and I also use fresh pasta too! This is great because it has a lot more tenderness, which works so well with the sauce combination. My ragu is not quite traditional though, I do use some garlic fresh herbs in contrary to the traditional Bolognese recipe!
My ragu is, in my humble opinion, delicious though! It is a true labour of love and takes a fair amount of time. Make sure to use all of carrots, onon and celery for this. This is called soffritto and is the essential flavour base for lots of Italian, French and British cooking!
After cooking off the meat and vegetables, I let it simmer for at least 3 hours to really build the flavour. It sounds like a lot of effort, and may build up an electricity bill, but it’s essential to making this special. Put the heat on very low, pop the lid on the pot, and let the flavours develop! I add a bouquet garni of thyme and rosemary, as well as a parmesan rind to boost the flavour. Whenever I am done with a pamesan wedge, I put the rind in the freezer until I need it!
As mentioned above, fresh pasta is really great for this dish. The texture is wonderful, and it sucks up all that lovely flavour. You can use dry pasta sheets if you would prefer, but I’d recommend checking out my guide and making your own!
A bechemel sauce can be made really quite easily. It only takes about 15 minutes, and requires 4 ingredients. It’s amazing what you can make with flour, butter, ilk and nutmeg! The nutmeg really is essential to give that classic flavour you will instantly recognise.
The last 2 things to add flavour to this are cheeses. I like to put grated parmesan between the layers. The saltiness of this cheese helps to cut through the richness of the ragu and the creaminess of the bechemel. I also put fresh mozzerella on top when I bake it. This gives a wonderful, caremelised cheese layer on top to really round it all off!
Classic, homemade lasagna!
Ingredients
Method
- Heat a heavy bottomed pot to medium high and add the diced pancetta. Cook off until browned and the fat is rendered.
- Remove the pancetta and cook off the minced beef in batches until browned off. Season with salt and pepper and add olive oil if needed. Reove when browned.
- Dice your onion, carrot and celery and add them to the pot. Season with salt and cook for 3-5 minutes, until softened.
- Add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes, until fragrant.
- Add the tomato puree and cook for a minute, until the oils start to separate.
- Add the red wine and cook until reduced. Add the nutmeg and mix.
- Add in the beef stock and mix well.
- Use some butchers twine to tie the thyme and rosemary together into a bouquet garni. Add this, the bay leaves and the parmesan rind and mix in.
- Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Str every 30 minutes or so to stop it from burning. In the last 30 minutes, add the milk.
- Add the butter to a pan over medium heat and melt.
- Add the four and mix, until it forms a thick paste.
- Gradually add the milk, a couple of splashes at a time, mixing into the flour. Do this until it gradually forms a thick liquid.
- Add in your nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. Mix well and cook until it coats the back of a spoon. If you run your finger across the back of the spoon, the line should remain and not fill in!
- Take your dish and add a thin layer of ragu to the bottom.
- Spread a layer of bechemel sauce over the top.
- Scatter some grated parmesan on top.
- Lay your first sheet of pasta down.
- Repeat until you have laid down 3 sheets of pasta. For the top, put just a layer of ragu on top, and cover with the fresh mozzeralla.
- Heat your oven to 180°C. Add in your lasagna and bake for 20 minutes. Check it and see if the top is nice and bubbly. If not, put it back in for another 5 minutes.Serve and enjoy!
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