A coworker once told me that millennials make lasagne out of a box. Not I, my friends, not I. Mine takes a few hours (half of that time is spent cleaning up my mess while my husband stands back in horror, wanting to help but knowing he’s not allowed in my kitchen) and I usually start way too late with my legs burning by the 11th hour. But, it’s easy and alot of the dishes you can make in advance! Once you have the ingredients laid out and you know what tastes you like you can probably whip up a lasagne that will feed 10 adults in an hour. And who doesn’t like a showstopper meal with over 10 layers? Here we go!
Ingredients:
3 tbs butter
1/3 cup flour
3 cups milk (1 cup homogenized and 2 cups 2%)
¼ tsp nutmeg
475 grams ricotta
2 eggs
8-10 ozs of washed and dried spinach
28 oz of tomato sauce
1 lb extra lean ground beef
½ onion
4 cloves garlic
1 box unico lasagne sheets
200 g mozzarella
1/2 cup parmesean cheese
Salt, pepper to taste
Dried herbs: basil, thyme, oregano, bay leaves, parsley (to taste)
The first thing to do is start with the béchamel. Melt 3 tbs butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk about two minutes, until golden brown. Whisk in milk and keep it moving consistently for about 10 minutes. The sauce should thicken enough to coat a spoon. Add nutmeg to combine, this is my secret indredient. Remove from heat, place in a new bowl to cool to room temperature.
In a different bowl, pour out the ricotta and add whisked eggs to the mixture. Raw, yes. Don’t worry, tis will all be baked in the oven, remember?
In a sauté pan add dried spinach over medium-low heat with a pinch of salt. Sauté until it is completely wilted and dark green. Add to ricotta mixture and stir together with a fork.
In a large stock pot over medium high heat, sweat onion. Add ground beef and cook until there is no more pink (5-8 minutes). Drain if necessary. When the pot is back on the stove add tomato sauce. If you want to skip this step with a pre-made portion follow the link here to my bolognese: https://twomanycommasblog.wixsite.com/blog/single-post/2018/05/16/Classic-Bolognese-Sauce.
If you're making this fresh, now is when you season to your specific taste buds. I add salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, parsley and 2 bay leaves (but don't forget to remove these). Remember to taste constantly because while the ricotta and béchamel have very few seasonings you don’t want to overpower the dish. If you're using leftover meat sauce then you may not have to season it again.
Now onto assembly:
1/2 cup bolognese sauce + 1/4 cup béchamel at the bottom of a large casserole/ lasagne dish. Layer lasagne noodles without overlapping.
1/4 cup béchamel, 1/2 ricotta mixture, 1/2 cup bolognese sauce, layer of noodles.
Then again, 1/4 cup béchamel, 1/2 ricotta mixture, 1/2 cup bolognese sauce, layer of noodles.
Lastly, pour over the last bit of bolognese sauce and cover with the mozarella and parmesan cheese.
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 375 degrees.
