Lasagne alla Bolognese

An Italian grandmother taught my future granddaughter-in-law how to make this dish in northern Italy. Yesterday I wrote about the pasta-making process. I didn’t include the sauce Bolognese, which had been made the night before. The sauce included ground beef, ground pork, a bit of tomato paste, beef broth, a little milk, red wine, and finely chopped carrots, celery and onion. It simmered for two or three hours. The aroma was divine.

The dish also includes béchamel using one liter of milk, butter and flour, with about 1½ teaspoons of freshly-grated nutmeg, the spice that characterizes northern Italian cuisine.

The next step is grating two cups of Parmesan cheese. (No short-cuts in this dish.)

Meanwhile, water is coming to a boil for cooking the freshly made pasta, which needs to cook for only two minutes.

The Italian grandmother said the pasta should never be rinsed in cold water. Rather, it should have a dribble of olive oil stirred in to keep the pieces from sticking together.

Finally it’s time to assemble the lasagna. First a little sauce Bolognese to keep the pasta from sticking.

Then comes a layer of pasta. It took only two sheets to cover the 9”x13” baking dish. The sheet of lasagna is almost transparent.

Then sauce Bolognese, béchamel, and a sprinkle of Parmesan.

The layering continues – pasta, sauces, cheese – until the last layer, which ends with just a bit of the sauces and cheese. Finally, the overhanging edges are trimmed.

All the while the Airedale is waiting in hopes of some pasta scraps, which were duly delivered.

The assembled lasagna goes into a 350º oven for 45 minutes and voila!

Let it cool a few minutes and serve it up. The crispy edges are delicious and remind me of pie crust edges. I probably will never make this dish on my own, but I certainly hope to eat it again here in Tucson.

Copyright 2015 by Shirley Domer