Lasagne Bolognese

Italian165 min totalcozy weather

The full, slow, layered lasagne: a milk-braised three-meat Bolognese, béchamel, Parmigiano and mozzarella. A project you'll brag about.

Ingredients

3 tbspolive oil
1large white or yellow onionpeeled and finely chopped
2large or 3 medium carrotspeeled and finely chopped
3ribs celeryfinely chopped
4garlic clovespeeled and finely chopped
½ tspfresh thyme leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ lbchicken liverstrimmed of connective tissue and fat and finely chopped
¾ lbground beef chuck
¾ lbground veal
¾ lbground pork
¾ cuptomato pasteabout 6 ounces
1 cupVermentinoTrebbiano, or other Tuscan white wine
1½ cups whole milk
2bay leaves
4 cupBéchamel Saucepage 273
¾ cupfinely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 lbdry flat lasagne noodles
6 ozfresh mozzarella cheesevery thinly sliced

Instructions

For the Bolognese, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium heavy-bottomed pot over medium-high. Add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and thyme, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the vegetables are tender and have released their juices, 7 to 9 minutes.
Stir in the livers and cook over high heat for 2 minutes, then add the beef, veal and pork, breaking it up as it goes. Season again with salt and pepper. Keep cooking over high heat until the meat is browned, stirring and scraping the bottom so nothing scorches. The livers melt into the sauce. Nobody will ever know. That's between you and the pot.
Once the meat is browned, turn the heat to medium and stir in the tomato paste. Cook about 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
Add the wine, bring it to a boil and reduce by half. Add the milk and bay leaves and bring back to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook 1½ to 2 hours, stirring now and then. If it looks like it needs it, add a little water (or chicken or veal stock if you have it). Milk in a meat sauce sounds strange. It's what makes it tender and plush. Trust the process.
Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Take it off the heat and stir to let the steam out as it cools a bit. Skim the fat off the top with a ladle and discard it.
Heat the oven to 350°F.
Coat a 9 x 13-inch (or similar) baking dish with the remaining 1 tablespoon oil. Spread a layer of béchamel over the bottom and sprinkle with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add a layer of noodles, then a layer of Bolognese, and repeat béchamel, cheese, noodles and Bolognese until the dish is full to the top. Finish with Bolognese dotted with béchamel and thin slices of mozzarella across the top. Full to the top means full to the top. Put a sheet pan on the rack below. Ask me how I know.

Kitchen's closed Let a baked lasagne rest before cutting, or the layers slide out like a landslide. Patience now, clean slices later.

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