Recipe

Lasagne alla Bolognese

8 servings · prep 45 min · cook 3 h + 45 min bake

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• dinner
• italian
• baking

Authored by the maintainer; Bolognese spinach-pasta method, beef-and-pork ragù, no garlic.

Ingredients

the pasta

• 400 g fresh green (spinach) lasagne sheets — Puglia wheat farm

the ragù

• 400 g ground beef chuck (15% fat)
• 200 g ground pork shoulder — Parma pork producer
• 100 g pancetta, finely diced — Parma pork producer
• Equal parts finely diced carrot, celery, yellow onion — about 200 g total
• 3 tbsp tomato paste (concentrato di pomodoro)
• 400 ml tomato passata — Origin not credited
• 200 ml dry white wine
• 300 ml whole milk
• Sea salt and pepper to taste — Trapani salt pans

the besciamella

• 1 L whole milk (for besciamella)
• 80 g butter + 60 g flour (for besciamella)
• Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

the layers

• 150 g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated — Emilia Parmigiano dairy

Method

1. Make the ragù first. Render the pancetta in a heavy pot over medium heat 5 minutes. Add the soffritto and sweat 10 minutes until soft and golden. · 15 min
2. Crank the heat. Add beef and pork. Break up and cook hard, stirring, until browned and the liquid evaporates, 12 minutes. · 12 min
3. Stir in tomato paste, cook 2 minutes. Pour in the wine, simmer until evaporated.
4. Add passata and a pinch of salt. Reduce heat to the lowest possible simmer. Cook uncovered 2 hours, stirring occasionally. · 120 min
5. After 1 hour, stir in the milk. Continue simmering. The milk fat blends in as the sauce reduces.
6. Meanwhile make the besciamella: melt butter, whisk in flour, cook 60 seconds. Whisk in milk a ladle at a time. Simmer 8 minutes, stirring constantly, until coating-thick. Season with nutmeg, salt, white pepper. · 8 min
7. When the ragù is done, taste. Adjust salt and pepper.
8. Heat oven to 180°C / 350°F. Butter a 30 × 20 cm baking dish.
9. Layer in this order, repeating six times: ragù → pasta sheet → besciamella → parmigiano. End with a top layer of besciamella and a generous parmigiano dusting.
10. Bake 45 minutes until the top is bubbling and deeply golden. Rest 20 minutes before cutting — lasagne sliced hot collapses into puddles. · 45 min

Notes

Bolognese lasagne is structurally different from the southern Italian
version. South: yellow egg pasta, ricotta, mozzarella, more tomato.
North: green spinach pasta, besciamella, less tomato, no ricotta. The
dish is the same name and almost a different dish.

Make the ragù the day before. The flavours are deeper after a night
in the fridge, and the second-day texture assembles more cleanly.