Lasagne Bolognese
Lasagne Bolognese
The name goes back to the Greek laganon, a flat sheet of dough — but the dish we know took centuries to arrive. One of the earliest written versions appears in the fourteenth-century Liber de Coquina, and it contained no tomato at all: the fruit only reached Europe in the sixteenth century, and took another two hundred years to be trusted in the kitchen. The lasagne we make today belongs to Bologna, where a slow-cooked meat ragù met a fresh béchamel. The city takes it seriously enough that in 1982 a recipe for ragù alla bolognese was formally deposited with its Chamber of Commerce. Purists will argue about green pasta and a splash of milk in the sauce — but the principle is simpler: cook the ragù slowly, make the béchamel fresh, and let it rest before you cut it.
1. What you'll need
Bolognese: 600 g / 1.3 lb beef mince, 800 g / 28 oz tomato puree, 3 yellow onions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 carrot, 1 celery stick, 200 ml / 3/4 cup red wine, 150 ml / 2/3 cup water, thyme, basil, 2 bay leaves, 3 pinches nutmeg, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bechamel: 125 g / 1 stick + 1 tbsp butter, 100 g / 3/4 cup plain flour, 1 litre / 4 cups milk.
Assembly: 1 packet lasagne sheets, 70 g / 2.5 oz grated cheese, 125 g / 4.5 oz parmesan.
Tools: a large pan, a saucepan, a whisk, a deep baking dish.
⏱️ Prep: 30 min · 🔥 Sauce 45 min + baking 25 min
2. Soften the garlic and onions
Chop the garlic and onions finely and soften them in olive oil over medium heat until translucent. Do not let them colour.
3. Add carrot, celery and beef
Dice the carrot and celery small and add them to the pan. Then add the beef mince (600 g / 1.3 lb) and break it up, cooking until no pink remains.
4. Deglaze with red wine
Pour in the red wine (200 ml / 3/4 cup) and let it bubble away until almost fully evaporated. This burns off the raw alcohol and leaves the depth behind.
5. Add tomato and herbs
Stir in the tomato puree (800 g / 28 oz), the water (150 ml / 2/3 cup), the thyme, the basil and the 2 bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.
6. Simmer the sauce — ⏲️ 45 min
Lower the heat and leave it to bubble gently for 45 min, stirring now and then.
Use this time for the next step — the bechamel takes about 10 min and is best made fresh.
7. Make the bechamel
Melt the butter (125 g) in a saucepan. Take it off the heat and whisk in the flour (100 g / 3/4 cup).
Return to medium heat and add the milk (1 litre / 4 cups) little by little, whisking constantly, until thick and smooth. Season and add the 3 pinches of nutmeg.
Adding the milk gradually is what prevents lumps — dumping it in all at once will not recover.
8. Build the layers
Oil the baking dish. Then, three times over:
a thin layer of bechamel
lasagne sheets
bolognese
bechamel
parmesan
9. Finish the top
For the final layer, cover the pasta with bechamel and grated cheese only — no bolognese. Dot a few small knobs of butter over the surface to help it brown.
10. Bake — ⏲️ 25 min
Bake about 25 min at 200 °C / 400 °F, until the top is golden and bubbling. Let it settle at least 10 min before cutting, or the layers will slide apart. Even better the next day
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