Lasagne alla Bolognese

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PRESENTATION

Lasagne alla Bolognese

Lasagne alla Bolognese is an institution, typical for Sunday lunches. This rich and tasty dish originates from the Emilia region, specifically, from the city of Bologna. Lasagna, however, is known, appreciated, made, remade, tasted and shared not only throughout Italy, but also abroad as an Italian symbolic dish. Layers of green egg pasta, dressed with the classic traditional ragù, béchamel and grated cheese. Obviously, lasagna has numerous and delicious variations such as the pumpkin and sausage, or the one with mushrooms, perfect for autumn menus. From the preparation to the ingredients, this recipe is the quintessence of the "richness" of traditional Bolognese cuisine, also famous for many other fresh pasta recipes and more. You just need to prepare it and enjoy it with your family for a very special day!

Discover more delicious Lasagna recipes and elevate your cooking game! 

INGREDIENTS

Ingredients for spinach egg pasta layers
Remilled durum wheat semolina 2.1 cups (350 g)
Type 00 flour 1.3 cups (150 g)
Spinach 8.8 oz (250 g)
Eggs 2
Egg yolks 3
For the Bolognese sauce
Beef 10.6 oz (300 g) - (minced, coarsely ground and mixed)
Pancetta 5.3 oz (150 g)
Carrots ½ cup (50 g)
Celery ½ cup (50 g)
Yellow onions 1 cup (50 g)
Red wine ½ cup (100 g)
Tomato purée 1 ¼ cup (300 g)
Vegetable broth to taste
Extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp
Fine salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
For the béchamel sauce
Butter 0.3 cup (70 g)
Type 00 flour 0.6 cup (70 g)
Whole milk 1 quart (1 l)
Fine salt 1 pinch
Nutmeg to taste
To season
Butter to taste
Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese 2.3 cups (270 g)
Preparation

How to prepare Lasagne alla Bolognese

To prepare lasagne alla Bolognese, start with the meat sauce. Prepare the vegetable broth and ensure to keep it warm. Then take the pancetta bacon, cut it into strips first 1 and then chop it well 2. Separately, finely chop the carrots, onions, celery and set aside 3.

In a saucepan, pour a drizzle of oil and the pancetta bacon. Use a ladle to spread it well 4 and let it brown for a few minutes. Then add the chopped vegetables 5 and cook for 5-6 minutes 5. Then add the minced meat 6. Stir and raise the heat. Let the meat brown slowly, it must be well browned to seal the juices and be soft.

Deglaze with red wine 7 and let it evaporate completely before adding the tomato puree 8. The Bolognese sauce must cook for two hours. When it starts boiling again, you can add some hot broth, one or two ladles 9, and let the sauce cook for another couple of hours at least.

Let it cook with the lid on, without covering the pan completely 10. Check and stir from time to time, add more broth when needed and let it cook. Now move on to the pasta. First, pour the spinach into a pan 11, add a little water, cover with a lid 12

and cook until they are wilted, it will take 5-6 minutes in total 13. At this point, drain them, let them cool and squeeze them well 14. Transfer the spinach to a mixer 15

and blend them until you get a puree 16. You will need to get approx 3.5 cups (100 g) of it. Now on a pastry board pour the semolina and 00 flour 17, add the spinach and create a fountain shape. Add the lightly beaten eggs 18

and egg yolks 19. Begin to knead everything starting from the center 20, this way the eggs will not slip out of the fountain. Knead well until you get a homogeneous dough 21.

Wrap it in plastic wrap 22 and let it rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. In the meantime, prepare the béchamel sauce. Heat the milk in a saucepan 23, without boiling it. In another pan, place the butter 24 and let it melt.

Add the flour in one go 25 and cook for a few minutes until you get a golden roux 26. Then, pour the hot milk in three times 27, mixing well.

Add salt and flavor with nutmeg 28. Continue to mix until you get a creamy béchamel 29. Transfer to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside. As soon as 30 minutes have elapsed, take the dough back and take a piece 30. Cover the rest of the dough with plastic wrap to keep it from drying out.

With the help of a little semolina flatten it slightly on the pastry board to form a rectangle and roll out the dough in the machine 31. Start from a wider thickness, then fold the dough and pass it over. When you feel it is too wet, sprinkle with a little semolina. Gradually reduce the thickness until you get a sheet just over 0.2 inches (0.5 mm) thick. Transfer it to a pastry board and cut into large rectangles 12x8 inches (30x20 cm) 32. Continue this way until the dough is finished and in the meantime put a pot of water on the stove and add salt. When it starts to boil, immerse one sheet at a time 33,

wait 30-40 seconds and using a skimmer drain it 34. Transfer it to a tray with a cloth 35 and dab to remove excess water. Continue this way, placing the cooked sheets side by side, without overlapping them. As soon as the Bolognese sauce is ready 36, season with salt and pepper and proceed to the composition of the lasagna.

Take a large 12x8 inches (30x20 cm) lasagna pan and grease the bottom 37. Add a thin layer of béchamel and one of Bolognese sauce 38. Then place the first sheet 39,

add a layer of béchamel and a layer of meat sauce 40. Add grated Parmesan cheese 41 and place another sheet of pasta on top 42.

Add another layer of béchamel and one of meat sauce 43, add grated cheese 44 and continue like this until you have 5 layers. After placing the last sheet, add the Bolognese sauce 5

in order to completely cover the pasta sheet 46. Sprinkle with grated cheese, add some tufts of butter 47 and bake in a preheated static oven at 338°F (170°C) for 40 minutes 48.

Storage

Keep the Bolognese sauce in the refrigerator, closed in an airtight container, for a maximum of 2-3 days. It is possible to freeze it.

You can store green lasagne alla Bolognese in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap or in an airtight container for 1-2 days. It can be prepared the day before, kept in the refrigerator covered with plastic wrap and cooked the next day.

It is possible to freeze it only if all fresh ingredients have been used: it will be sufficient to defrost it in the refrigerator about 24 hours beforehand and then cook it in the oven.

Tips

With these doses you will get 5 layers, by increasing the doses you can also make 8 layers.

Lasagne alla Bolognese is the progenitor of all the tasty variations of our tradition: from seasonal ones, such as lasagna with mushrooms or zucchini, to the more delicious ones like pistachio lasagna!

Tips for a perfect bolognese sauce

There are so many variations of the Bolognese sauce.

If you prefer, at the end of cooking, you can add a glass of milk or a pinch of sugar. It will dampen the acidity of the tomato. In the past, milk was also used to dampen the wild taste of meat during cooking, but it is something that is no longer or rarely done today.

There are those who use a mix of pork and beef to get a fat mix at the right point. We advise you to use, in addition to pancetta bacon, skirt stea or in any case a cut that is not too lean.

Instead of vegetable broth, you can use hot water or meat broth. It is important to add the broth as needed.

Wait until the meat is well browned before blending with wine, we chose the red one but some people also use white wine.

Cooking times may also vary: we recommend that you cook the Bolognese sauce for at least 2 hours. You can prolong the cooking by checking it often and adding more broth as needed.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.