Lasagne Emiliane


Ingredients

Bolognese ragu
45 ml extra virgin olive oil
25 g butter
1 onion, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
150 g pancetta, cubed
200 g minced beef
200 g minced pork
200 ml red wine
2 tbsp (6 Teaspoons) tomato paste
200 ml beef stock
White sauce
40 g butter
40 g plain flour
500 ml milk
salt & black pepper
100 g grated parmesan cheese
8 dried lasagne sheets

Method

Bolognese ragu

  1. Heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter in a pan, add the onion, celery, carrot and pancetta and sweat on a gentle heat for about 10 minutes until the onion has softened.
  2. Add the meat and brown all over.
  3. Increase the heat, add the wine and allow to evaporate.
  4. Dilute the tomato puree in a little of the stock and stir into the meat.
  5. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook on a gentle heat for 2 hours, checking and adding a little extra stock from time to time to avoid the sauce from drying out.

For the white sauce

  1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees centigrade.
  2. Make the white sauce – melt the butter in a small pan on a medium heat, remove from the heat, stir in the flour with a small hand whisk (this will avoid lumps from forming) until you get a paste, stir in a little milk. Return to the heat, add the remaining milk and stirring all the time, cook on a medium heat for about 3 to 4 minutes until the sauce begins to thicken. Remove from the heat, season with salt & pepper and stir in about a third of the grated parmesan.
  3. Line an ovenproof dish with a little of the Bolognese sauce, arrange sheets of lasagne over followed by more sauce, then a layer of white sauce, sprinkle some grated parmesan and continue making layers like this until you have used up all the ingredients ending with a topping of white sauce and grated parmesan cheese.
  4. Bake in the hot oven for about 30 - 35 minutes until golden-brown. Remove, leave to rest for a couple of minutes and serve.