Lasagne alla bolognese (lasagne) - Emilia Romagna
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Categories: Kids, Vegetarian*substitute meat sauce for grilled vegetables, Gluten free*use gluten free dry lasagne
Everyone loves lasagne. While the dish itself takes a while to cook, it is a great dish when having houseguests as the meat sauce can be cooked in advance and used to serve with pasta on its own. The lasagne can be made in advance and then popped into the oven to bake while entertaining. Lasagne is a classic Sunday lunch dish in Bologna and during the holidays in Italy, particularly on the Epiphany/La Befana (6 January).Traditional lasagne alla bolognese is made with green spinach flavoured pasta, but store bought lasagne sheets are an acceptable substitute.
Author:
Recipe type: First Course (Primo)
Cuisine: Emilia Romagna
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 1 recipe for Ragù Alla Bolognese (bolognese meat sauce)
  • 1½ recipes for béchamel sauce (reduce flour and butter to 60 gms each)
  • ⅔ recipe forfresh egg pasta (change the quantities to 265 gms flour, 2 eggs and add 100 gms pureed steamed spinach after the eggs are added) or 220 grams dry store-bought lasagne sheets
  • 100 grams Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, finely grated
  • 40 grams butter, cut up
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  2. Stir in 250 mls of hot water into the meat sauce.
  3. If using fresh pasta then roll to the second to the last setting using the technique shown here. If using dry lasagne sheets, no special preparation is necessary.
  4. In a rectangular baking pan 25 cm by 30 cm, drizzle a bit of the béchamel sauce over the bottom. Reserve 250 mls of béchamel sauce.
  5. Place a layer of pasta on top. Top the pasta layer with ⅓ of the meat sauce.
  6. Top the meat sauce with ⅓ of the béchamel sauce and sprinkle 20 grams of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese on top.
  7. Repeat twice more and top with a layer of pasta, the reserved 250 mls of béchamel sauce spread evenly and 40 grams of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. There is no meat on the top layer.
  8. Dot the top with the butter. Cover the top with aluminium foil so that the pasta does not dry out. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes and remove the foil to continue cooking until golden, 10 minutes. Remove and let sit 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Recipe by Living a Life in Colour at http://www.livingalifeincolour.com/recipes/lasagne-alla-bolognese-lasagne-emilia-romagna/