Lasagna Bolognese

Prepare the bolognese meat sauce

1. Make the soffritto:

   Combine pancetta, onion, celery, and carrot in a buttered skillet and cook over medium-high heat until onion turns pale golden.

2. Add more ingredients:

   Add the beef, pork, and sausage to the soffritto and increase the heat to high. Cook until browned. Sprinkle with ground clove, cinnamon and pepper.

3. Add tomatoes:

   Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes. If using whole canned tomatoes, shred them as you add them to the sauce.

4. Add milk and boil:

   Add the milk, season with sea salt, then turn the heat down and simmer for 2 1/2 hours. Stir at least every 20 minutes. Whenever the sauce simmers enough that it sticks to the bottom of the pan, simply add 1/4 cup water and scrape the browned bits off the bottom and continue cooking.

Make the béchamel sauce

1. Make the roux:

   Heat the milk in a heavy-bottomed saucepan until almost boiling.

   In a separate pan, melt the unsalted butter with the flour over low heat. Stir quickly with a spoon. Cook this for 1 minute and then take it off the heat. (See Wikipedia on béchamel sauce for more information on this sauce.)

2. Add half the milk to the roux:

   Slowly add half the hot milk to your butter and flour mixture. Stir constantly.

3. Add the remaining milk and thicken the sauce:

   Return the milk, butter, and flour mixture to low heat until the sauce begins to thicken. Slowly work the remaining milk into the thickened sauce while stirring. Keep stirring until it boils.

4. Season, then stir:

   Season with a little sea salt and stir until you get the right consistency. If clumps form, quickly beat them with a whisk until they break up. Remove from stove.

Prepare the lasagna

1. Cooking Lasagna Noodles:

   Preheat oven to 375°F. Prepare lasagna according to instructions. About 8 minutes in 6 liters of boiling salted water. Drain, rinse with cold water.

   Arrange the individual lasagna noodles on kitchen towels without touching each other so they don’t stick together while you layer the casserole.

2. Layer Lasagna:

   Spread a little olive oil on the inside of a 13×9-inch baking pan. Make sure your baking pan is non-reactive – Pyrex or stainless steel. Don’t use an aluminum pan as it will react with the sauce’s acidity and ruin the flavor.

   First, put a layer of lasagna noodles on top. Apply 1/3 of the Bolognese sauce, then 1/3 of the Béchamel sauce.

   Sprinkle with grated parmesan. Repeat this two more times. Top with a final layer of pasta and sprinkle with grated parmesan.

3. Bake:

   Tent the casserole with aluminum foil. Place lasagna in the center rack of a preheated 375°F oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes until the top starts to get lightly browned.

   Remove from the oven and let cool for 5-10 minutes before serving.

   How to freeze lasagna and other casseroles

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