The original recipe for Bolognese lasagna is a dish from traditional Emilian cuisine, specifically from the city of Bologna. This typical dish of Bolognese and Emilia Romagna gastronomy is so tasty and rich that lasagna with ragù has quickly become one of the icons of Italian food around the world. The recipe for Bolognese lasagna has numerous delicious variations such as lasagna with four cheeses or with pesto, fish or truffle. Here’s how to prepare excellent Bolognese lasagna following our original recipe.
How to prepare lasagna: making the original Bolognese sauce
The original recipe for Bolognese lasagna; from preparation to ingredients, is the quintessence of traditional Bolognese cuisine. To prepare good Bolognese lasagna, the most important thing to start with is the ingredients and an original recipe like this one.
For the original recipe of Bolognese lasagna, the meat used for the Bolognese sauce must be strictly mixed: pork and beef, respectively a fatty meat that greases and a lean one that flakes and provides its unique aroma. Even the tomato pulp must be of good quality to avoid giving too acidic a taste to the sauce.
The egg lasagna sheets used must be among the best for impeccable Bolognese lasagna like a real chef. The lasagna pasta must be porous and rough so that it can hold the condiments and obtain a perfect consistency in the final result.
Original recipe for Bolognese lasagna
Here is the original recipe for Bolognese lasagna. Below you will find the recipe with instructions on how to prepare the Bolognese ragù and how to prepare the béchamel for your lasagna. Finally, we explain how to assemble the lasagna for baking, cook it, and serve it.
Lasagne alla bolognese, the original recipe with meat sauce and béchamel
Other details
- 20×30 cm baking dish (8×12 inch)
- Difficulty: medium
Ingredients
Ingredients to make Bolognese Lasagna
- 21 sheets egg lasagna
- 250 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano DOP 8.8 oz
For the meat sauce alla bolognese
- 250 g fatty ground pork 8.8 oz
- 500 g ground beef 1.1 lb
- 250 g tomato sauce 8.8 oz
- 50 g carrots 1.8 oz
- 50 g golden onions 1.8 oz
- 50 g celery 1.8 oz
- 40 g whole milk 1.4 oz
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Black pepper
- 250 g white dry wine 8.8 oz
- 3 L Water 3 quart
For the béchamel sauce
- 1 L fresh whole milk 4 cups
- 100 g butter 3.5 oz
- 100 g type "00" flour 3.5 oz
- a pinch of Grated nutmeg
- a pinch of fine salt
Instructions
How to make the meat sauce alla bolognese
- To make the original meat sauce for lasagne alla bolognese, start by finely chopping the celery, unpeeled fresh carrot (if using) and onion with a knife. Heat the oil in a pan and add the chopped vegetables. Cook for about ten minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
- After about 10 minutes, the vegetables will be wilted and the bottom of the pan should be dry. At this point, we can add the coarse ground beef and pork (fresh fatty pancetta will also work). The meat should also brown slowly for about ten minutes, so stir well until the meat appears browned. At first, the juices will come out, but once they dry out, you can add the 250 g of white wine (or red, depending on preference).
- When all the wine has evaporated, pour the tomato passata into the pan and add 1 liter of water and a pinch of salt. Let the meat sauce simmer over medium-low heat for one hour, keeping an eye on it. After the first hour, add the second liter of water, stir and continue cooking for another hour.
- After the second hour of cooking, pour the last liter of water and continue to cook over medium-low heat for another hour. This means that the meat sauce alla bolognese cooks for 3 hours with 3 liters of water added at the indicated times. At the end of cooking, the original meat sauce alla bolognese should be thick, not too dry or too liquid. Adjust the salt and pepper, turn off the heat and add the milk. Mix and set the meat sauce aside.
How to make the béchamel sauce
- To make the homemade béchamel sauce, heat the milk in a saucepan. Meanwhile, melt the butter in another pan over medium-low heat, and when the butter has melted, remove the pan from the heat and add the sifted flour, stirring vigorously with a whisk. We should obtain a lump-free mixture that is well blended. Then, we can put the saucepan back on the heat and lightly brown the butter and flour mixture, then turn off the heat.
- When the milk is warm (not boiling), it can be flavored with grated nutmeg (to taste) and a pinch of salt. At this point, add the warm flavored milk to the butter and flour mixture. Vigorously stir the ingredients with a whisk and thicken over medium-low heat: the mixture must be homogeneous and without lumps. Cook the béchamel sauce for about 5 or 6 minutes so as not to burn it. Remove the béchamel sauce from the heat only when it reaches the right density and bubbles.
How to assemble the lasagne
- Take a rectangular baking dish with dimensions of 20×30 cm and distribute a layer of béchamel sauce on it, spreading the sauce evenly over the entire surface. Place the egg lasagna sheets in the baking dish to form the base layer.
- Pour a thin layer of béchamel, one of the meat sauce alla bolognese and the grated Parmigiano, making sure to cover the entire surface of the dish. Repeat, also placing the lasagna sheets in opposite directions on each layer to make it more solid and have crossed layers.
- Then proceed by creating a new layer of béchamel sauce and make sure to distribute it over the entire surface of the dish. Also add the meat sauce and continue like this for all the layers, alternating egg lasagna sheets, béchamel sauce, meat sauce, and Parmigiano. Finish off the lasagna alla bolognese with a layer of ragù and a generous dusting of grated Parmesan cheese.
Cooking the lasagna alla bolognese:
- Once the baking dish is ready, bake the lasagna alla bolognese in a preheated static oven at 200°C (392°F) for about 25 minutes. In case of a fan oven, bake at 180°C (356°F) for 15 minutes. The lasagna alla bolognese is ready when a light golden crust has formed on the surface. Be careful not to burn it, or the taste will be bitter and it will be difficult to eat.
- When the lasagna is well-cooked, it can be removed from the oven and left to cool to room temperature for about half an hour before plating and serving. During this time, the lasagna will firm up even more and be more compact, making it easier to cut. You can finally taste the original homemade lasagna alla bolognese with this traditional recipe!
Conservation
Once cooked, you can keep the bolognese ragù in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 or 3 days. Lasagna alla bolognese, on the other hand, can only be stored for 1 or 2 days after cooking. Lasagna alla bolognese can also be prepared the day before and stored in the refrigerator, covered with plastic wrap, and cooked the next day. Both the ragù and the lasagna alla bolognese can be frozen, but only if the ingredients used were fresh. Freeze the lasagna alla bolognese when raw or halfway cooked and thaw for 24 hours before baking in the oven.Tips
You can make classic or green lasagna and use according to the recipe. To make the lasagna even more delicious, you can add pieces of mozzarella (drained) to give this unique dish a stringy touch, but the calories will increase.SHARE the original recipe for making Bolognese lasagna.
