Easy Traditional Lasagna Recipe

As far as I am concerned, this is the ultimate pasta dish. This recipe is for a traditional lasagna with Bolognese and béchamel or white sauce. There are hundreds of other ways of making Lasagna, but this is the starting point that all other recipes come from.

Although it is an easy lasagna recipe, it does take some time, because there are several separate stages to go through. Both the Bolognese and the béchamel sauces must be made separately and the pasta must be cooked, although nowadays there are many ready –to-go sheets of pasta that do not need pre-cooking. For me, it is worth the extra few minutes becaue I have found the ready made sheets dry out and if you take the time to pre cook them, they absorb the flavors of the sauces better. You can use white pasta as I have done for this one, or you can use green spinach lasagna sheets for a different look and flavor.

One of the great things about this recipe is that, although it takes some time to do, most of the work can be done before your guests arrive and then the lasagna can be baked later, and it makes for great leftovers. It freezes well and can be kept in the fridge also. A few minutes re-heating time and away you go. This will feed a large family.

You will need:

Equipment:

• 2 medium saucepans for the sauces
• 1 large saucepan for the pasta
• A whisk
• 1 ovenproof casserole dish 9in x 13 in or similar
• A sieve
• 2 bowls

The exact size of the dish doesn’t really matter. If you have a 10 x 15 dish that will be fine too. But it does need to be about 3 inches deep.

Ingredients:

• 1 large bottle of wine (got to be a heavy red Italian wine, Chianti Classico or something similar)
• 1 serving of Bolognese sauce (see Spaghetti Bolognese recipe)
• Fresh Parmesan cheese

For the white béchamel sauce:

• 4 oz butter
• 2 heaped tablespoons flour
• 1 ½ pints of milk
• ¼ pint cream (thin cream, not whipping)
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried nutmeg or ¼ of a whole fresh nutmeg

Pasta:

1 lb or about 20 sheets

First pour a large glass of wine and sip. Now make the Bolognese sauce. (see Spaghetti Bolognese recipe ) and set aside.

How to make the white sauce for lasagna

Place the milk, butter and flour in a medium sized saucepan and place over a low heat. Bring slowly to the boil, whisking continuously. When the sauce comes to the boil, continue to cook for about 10 minutes. Set aside.

Now, cook the lasagna sheets. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add a little salt and olive oil. Add the sheets to the water one at a time. For fresh pasta, cook for 3 minutes, for dried pasta cook for 7. When they are cooked, remove the sheets one at a time with a fish slice or spatula and place in a bowl of cold water. This stops them from sticking together.

Next, take the white sauce, and sieve into a bowl. Season with salt and pepper, add the nutmeg and whisk again.

Now, take the ovenproof dish, and using a paper towel, butter the inside of the dish. Spread a layer of Bolognese sauce on the bottom of the dish, followed by a layer of béchamel. Now place a layer of lasagna sheets on top and continue layering until all the ingredients are used. There should be about 4 or 5 layers depending on the size of the dish used. Now sprinkle the top with a good covering of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. At this point, the lasagna is ready to be cooked and can be left until it is time to cook. If you are not cooking it immediately, place it in the fridge until needed. When you do cook It, bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until the top goes brown. Serve hot with fresh bread and a salad.

Buon Apetito!