LASAGNE AL FORNO (ITALIAN BEEF LASAGNA)
A classic recipe for homemade Lasagne al Forno (Italian Beef Lasagna) made entirely from scratch. There's truly nothing more comforting than a hot bubbling baked lasagna made with homemade beef ragu, bechamel sauce, silky pasta and topped with melted mozzarella cheese! This traditional Italian recipe will be a comfort food favourite.
Provided by Emily Kemp
Categories Main Course
Time 4h15m
Number Of Ingredients 20
Steps:
- Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and saute the vegetables gently in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Once the vegetables are soft add the beef and pork mince and cook until browned.
- If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, spoon some out. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
- Once the wine has reduced, add the sieved tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaves, 4 cups of beef stock (1 litre) and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir everything together and leave to simmer on a low heat for 2.5-3 hours uncovered. Add the rest of the beef stock half way through.
- Add the butter to a saucepan and cook until melted and bubbling.
- Add the flour to the melted butter and stir to form a paste. Let the flour cook for 1 minute.
- Slowly whisk half of the milk into the butter and flour constantly whisking to avoid any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add the rest of the milk, nutmeg, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Continue to heat the sauce whilst stirring until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take off the heat and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- To assemble the lasagne, spoon a small amount of ragu on the very bottom of the baking dish. Top with and even layer of lasagna pasta sheets (cut the pasta sheets to fit your baking dish).
- Add a few more spoons of ragu so the pasta is completely covered followed by 2 ladels of white sauce.
- Repeat the layers of pasta, ragu and bechamel sauce until everything is used up making sure to keep enough of bechamel sauce for the very top layer (you should have 4-5 layers of pasta).
- Cover the top layer of the lasagne with torn mozzarella and then bake in the oven for 45minutes or until bubbling and golden.
- Let it cool slightly for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 753 kcal, Carbohydrate 56 g, Protein 39 g, Fat 39 g, SaturatedFat 18 g, Cholesterol 120 mg, Sodium 740 mg, Fiber 4 g, Sugar 12 g, ServingSize 1 serving
LASAGNE AL FORNO WITH BOLOGNESE RAGU
This classic recipe for baked lasagna is the ultimate comfort food.
Provided by Jacqueline De Bono
Categories Main Course
Time 3h30m
Number Of Ingredients 19
Steps:
- Fry the vegetables in a little olive oil until they soften. (Some Italian chefs insist that the meat and vegetables be fried separately as they require different levels of heat)
- In a separate pan fry the minced meat in heated olive oil over a medium heat until it begins to brown and then add the vegetables. (you can also cook the meat with the veg)
- Add the wine and continue stirring. When the alcohol has evaporated, add the tomatoes and/or passata and the stock.
- Lower the heat and leave to simmer partially covered for at least 1.5 hours, stirring occasionally.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Add the milk, stir and continue to let the sauce simmer for another 30 minutes.
- If you think the sauce is too liquidy you can remove the cover completely till it reduces. But if you are using fresh or uncooked pasta the sauce needs to be a little liquidy.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over low heat, incorporate the sifted flour and mix everything with a wooden spoon or whisk until you have a paste (roux)
- Cook the roux until it is golden, and at this point add the milk a little at a time, plus a pinch of salt and a ½ teaspoon of grated nutmeg. Continue to stir until the sauce reaches the consistency you want.
- If you are using dried pasta sheets partly cook them in boiling salted water. You may want to add a little olive oil to the water so they don't stick together or cook them one at a time!
- Then butter a rectangular baking dish and spread a little sauce on the bottom. Make a layer of lasagne sheets, cover them with a layer of sauce, some béchamel and a sprinkling of grated cheese.
- Then put another layer of pasta, then bolognese sauce, béchamel and cheese and so on until the ingredients are used up, leaving some béchamel for the final layer.
- Cover the last layer with béchamel sauce, grated parmesan and some butter flakes.
- Bake your lasagne al forno in a preheated oven at 170-180 °c (338-356°F)for about thirty minutes. When the surface is golden and the pasta is cooked (check using a fork) remove from the oven and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving. If using uncooked pasta it's a good idea to cover the dish with aluminium foil for the first 15 minutes as otherwise the top may get golden before the pasta is cooked.
- Allow the lasagne al forno to sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.
PERFECT LASAGNA BOLOGNESE
Authentic Bolognese sauce is slow-cooked to perfection, and then spread over fresh lasagna noodles covered with béchamel sauce. This is the best and only lasagna recipe you will ever want. For better results, always use the highest quality ingredients available, from the salt to the meat and wine.
Provided by gem
Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian
Time 6h43m
Yield 12
Number Of Ingredients 24
Steps:
- Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta; cook and stir until browned, about 8 minutes. Add celery, carrots, and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in beef and pork. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until evenly browned, about 20 minutes.
- Pour white wine into the Dutch oven; cook until alcohol evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to low, cover and simmer Bolognese sauce, stirring occasionally and skimming fat off the surface, about 3 1/2 hours. Stir in beef broth, 1/4 cup at a time, if sauce looks dry.
- Stir heavy cream and 1/2 cup milk into the Bolognese sauce; mix well. Cover and cook over very low heat until flavors combine, about 30 minutes.
- Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour until a smooth paste forms; cook and stir until paste turns a golden sandy color, about 7 minutes.
- Increase heat to medium-high and slowly whisk 4 cups milk into the saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and add bay leaf. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally until bechamel sauce is thick and smooth, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and nutmeg; discard bay leaf.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.
- Spread 1/4 cup bechamel sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with 1 lasagna sheet; prick in several places with a paring knife. Spread 1/2 cup bechamel sauce and 1/2 cup Bolognese sauce on top. Sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on top.
- Repeat layers 7 times with remaining lasagna sheets, bechamel sauce, Bolognese sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Bake lasagna in the preheated oven until bubbly, about 25 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking until cheese is browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool before serving, about 15 minutes.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 648.1 calories, Carbohydrate 46.1 g, Cholesterol 120.9 mg, Fat 33.8 g, Fiber 2.7 g, Protein 35.8 g, SaturatedFat 16.3 g, Sodium 689.2 mg, Sugar 8.3 g
LASAGNA BOLOGNESE (LASAGNA AL FORNO)
Even though my roots are from Western Europe, I feel my blood is full of Italian.....can't get enough! If you want to wow them, put the extra time into this recipe. Make ahead and refrigerate or freeze until ready to use. First is a Sugo di carne (tomato sauce), then a Balsamella sauce (Italian white sauce). Update 4/2010: Due to 2 comments I'm suggesting you use 3-4 T flour to thicken sauce but not too thick that it won't pour easily on top, if too thick, add a little milk a tablespoons at a time. Hope this helps!
Provided by Southern Lady
Categories European
Time 2h5m
Yield 9-12 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- TOMATO SAUCE.
- Place oil and butter in a saucepan, and turn the heat to medium.
- When the butter starts foaming, add the diced onion, carrot, celery, and garlic.
- Sauté and stir until the onion is soft and translucent.
- This is the time to add the ground meat if using.
- Stir with a wooden spoon, and break the meat into small bits. Cook until the meat is fully browned.
- Add the wine, salt and pepper (to taste). Turn the heat to high, and let the wine evaporate. (Posting of 1/4 cup wine would not register correctly when entering recipe).
- Add the tomato, nutmeg, and milk (milk helps cut down on acidity). When the sauce starts boiling, turn the heat to low.
- Cover the saucepan and simmer slowly for about 1 hour, stirring occasionally.
- WHITE SAUCE.
- Place butter in a saucepan and turn the heat to low. When the butter is melted, remove the saucepan from the stove.
- Add the flour, stirring continuously until golden.
- Add the milk a little at a time. Put the saucepan back on the stove and slowly stir with a wooden spoon, until the sauce starts boiling and becomes thicker.
- Turn heat off. Add salt to taste, and stir in the 1 oz. grated parmigiano cheese and pinch of nutmeg.
- PASTA.
- Begin cooking lasagna pasta in salted water as directed on package. Prepare al dente. To stop the cooking process, run cold water over drained pasta.
- While pasta is cooking, begin.
- PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease heavily a large 13x9 baking dish.
- Spread 2-3 Tbs. of tomato sauce over the bottom of the baking dish.
- Place one layer of pasta over sauce in dish.
- Spread with tomato sauce but not so thick you can't see pasta showing thru.
- Spread with Balsamella white sauce. Try to pour as evenly as possible but don't blend. Not all tomato sauce should be covered.
- Top with 2 ozs grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.
- Repeat two times.
- Top layer will be a beautiful marble of white sauce over the tomato sauce.
- Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes. Doneness is when you fork the lasagna, it will pull out easily from the pasta.
- Serve hot.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 286.4, Fat 22.1, SaturatedFat 11.7, Cholesterol 48.8, Sodium 496.6, Carbohydrate 10.2, Fiber 1.2, Sugar 2.6, Protein 11.6
LASAGNA AL FORNO
Provided by Tyler Florence
Categories main-dish
Time 2h40m
Yield 12 servings
Number Of Ingredients 18
Steps:
- Cook the lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling salted water until pliable and barely tender, about 10 minutes. Stir with a wooden spoon to prevent sticking. Drain the noodles thoroughly, coat with olive oil keep them moist and easy to work with.
- Coat a large skillet with olive oil. Saute over medium heat, onion, garlic and herbs. Cook 5 minutes. Brown beef and sausage until no longer pink, about 15 minutes. Drain fat into a small container and discard. Stir in the tomato paste completely. Set aside to cool.
- In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta, parsley and oregano. Stir in beaten eggs. Add Parmesan, season with salt and pepper.
- To assemble the lasagna: Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9-inch pan with a ladle full of tomato sauce. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise in a slightly overlapping layer on the sauce. Then, line each end of the pan with a lasagna noodle. This forms a collar that holds in the corners. Spread 1/2 of the meat mixture over the pasta. Dollop 1/2 of the ricotta mixture over the meat, spread to the edges with a spatula. Sprinkle 1/2 of the mozzarella on top of the ricotta. Top with a ladle full of tomato sauce, spread evenly. Repeat with the next layer of noodles, meat, cheeses and sauce. Top last layer with noodles, sauce and shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Tap the pan to force out air bubbles. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven. Let lasagna rest for 30 minutes so the noodles will settle and cut easily. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.
LASAGNA BOLOGNESE
Provided by Food Network Kitchen
Time 5h10m
Yield 10-12 servings
Number Of Ingredients 29
Steps:
- Make the ragu: Soak the porcini mushrooms in 2 cups hot water until soft, about 30 minutes. Drain the porcini, reserving the liquid.
- Finely chop the porcini and white mushrooms in a food processor; transfer to a bowl. Add the carrots, celery, garlic, parsley and prosciutto to the processor; pulse until finely chopped.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Cook the ground beef and pork in batches, breaking them up with a wooden spoon, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer the meat to a bowl. Add the wine to the pot, scraping up the browned bits. Add the liquid to the bowl with the meat.
- Melt the butter in the pot; add the onion, chopped carrot mixture, the rosemary, bay leaves and 2 teaspoons salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 12 to 15 minutes. Add the tomato paste and mushrooms and cook, stirring, about 8 minutes.
- Return the meat mixture to the pot. Add the cognac and scrape up the browned bits. Cook, stirring, until the liquid is absorbed, about 5 minutes. Add 2 cups water and the reserved mushroom soaking liquid. Crush the tomatoes with your hands over the pot and add with their juices. Simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 2 hours, 30 minutes. Cool completely.
- Meanwhile, make the bechamel: Melt the butter in a wide saucepan over medium heat. Add the flour, nutmeg, 2 teaspoons salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; cook, whisking, 2 to 3 minutes. Gradually whisk in the milk and cook, whisking, until thickened, 5 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking, 10 more minutes.
- Assemble the lasagna: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bring a few inches of salted water to a boil in a wide saucepan. Fill a large bowl with ice water. Line a baking sheet with a damp kitchen towel. Working in batches, boil the pasta until partially cooked, about 4 minutes, then remove with a skimmer and transfer to the ice water to cool. Remove the pasta sheets, shake off the excess water and arrange in a single layer on the towel. Cover the pasta with another damp towel.
- Brush the bottom and sides of a deep 11-by-13-inch baking dish with the butter. Spread 1/2 cup ragu in the pan. Cover with a layer of pasta, then sprinkle with 1/3 cup parmesan and 2/3 cup mozzarella. Spread 1 1/2 cups ragu over the cheese and top with 1 cup bechamel. Repeat with 3 more layers each of pasta, parmesan, mozzarella, ragu and bechamel. Top with a layer of pasta, then cover with the remaining bechamel. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and mozzarella. Tuck the edges of the pasta into the baking dish with a knife.
- Place the lasagna on a baking sheet to catch any drips; bake until bubbly and golden, about 40 minutes. Let rest 30 minutes before slicing and serving.
LASAGNE AL FORNO
This is Delia Smith's version of Lasagne. I'm used to the American version of lasagna that is smothered in red sauce, but in England it is more traditional to have a bechamel sauce. It takes a while, but it's worth it! Cooking time is mostly inactive.
Provided by Scarlett516
Categories European
Time 24m
Yield 12 serving(s)
Number Of Ingredients 23
Steps:
- In a large sauté pan, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add onion and fry for about 10 minutes.
- While the onion is cooking, chop the pancetta. The best way to do this is to roll it up, cut lengthwise then across.
- Once onion is softened, add the pancetta and cook for another 5 minutes.
- Place the pancetta and onion in a 6 quart dutch oven, add another tablespoon of oil to the sauté pan and return to heat.
- Add the ground beef and cook until browned. Transfer to the dutch oven, add another tablespoon of oil to pan and return to heat.
- Add the ground pork and brown.
- Once pork has browned, add it to the dutch oven.
- Preheat oven to 275°F (140°C, Gas Mark 1).
- Place dutch oven on burner and stir ingredients together. Add the tomatoes, tomato purée, red wine, salt, pepper, and about ¼ nutmeg, grated. Stir all ingredients together and bring to a simmer.
- While bringing mixture to a simmer, tear half of the basil leaves from the stem, tear or chop the leaves and add them to the pot. As soon as the mixture is simmering, place in preheated oven. You do not need to cover the mixture.
- Here the recipe says to let simmer for 3 hours before giving a stir, I stirred every 45 minutes.
- When liquid has reduced to a concentrated sauce, season to taste with salt and pepper and add the remainder of the basil.
- About 20-30 minutes before the ragú bolognese is due to come out of the oven, begin the bechamel sauce.
- Place the milk, butter, flour, salt and pepper, and garlic in a large saucepan. Heat oven medium-low heat and whisk until simmering and thickened. Reduce heat as low as possible and simmer for 10 minutes more.
- Sieve the sauce into a large bowl and add the cream. Adjust seasoning and add another quarter of nutmeg.
- Preheat oven to 350°F (Gas mark 4, 180°C).
- Now for the assembly. Organize your materials in the order in which you will use them, with the baking dish on a cookie sheet (to catch spillage) in the middle.
- Spread a thin layer of the ragú bolognese on the bottom of the pan. Cover with ¼ of the bechamel sauce, diced mozzarella and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Add a layer of lasagna noodles (They don't need to be cooked, the large amount of sauce cooks the noodles). Repeat in this manner, finishing off with a top layer of cream sauce and a coating of Parmesan cheese.
- Place in oven (be sure to keep the baking sheet underneath!) and bake for 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling.
Nutrition Facts : Calories 752.8, Fat 47.1, SaturatedFat 24.2, Cholesterol 140.7, Sodium 579.3, Carbohydrate 47.5, Fiber 2.5, Sugar 3.9, Protein 32.2
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