Lasagna with Béchamel

Lasagna with what? Only the most life changing ingredient ever. Who knew you could make lasagna without ricotta cheese? The italians, that's who. This lasagna is amazing. I think it's the best thing I've ever tasted.

Get ready to enjoy the best meal you've ever made. Let's begin.

From https://saveur.com

Although widely recognized by its French name, bechamel, this sauce has been known in Italy as besciamella (or balsamella or bechimella) for centuries. The sauce functions as a binding element in many pasta and vegetable dishes.

From giulianohazan.com:

Balsamella is known as the “mother” sauce in French cooking. It is also used in many Italian baked dishes and gratinées, and is a necessity in meat lasagna.  It is never used alone, and Italian béchamel doesn’t have the clove (or nutmeg) that is considered the staple of the recipe by French authority Escoffier. 

There is a theory that the famous white sauce was brought to France by the great chefs of Italian born, Queen Catherine de Medici.  In Italian lore, all the good food that France has is due to her.  According to many, she even introduced the fork to France.  Although its origins may be somewhat mysterious, béchamel is a sauce that was certainly used mostly by royalty as the rest of the populace didn’t get refrigeration for their kitchens and couldn’t afford ice until a bit over 100 years ago. Traditionally made béchamel is created by whisking hot milk into a flour and butter roux.  A roux is made of equal parts butter that has been clarified and flour.  A roux is often called a brown sauce.  Italian béchamel uses whole butter and the roux is not allowed to brown. The creamy, rich white sauce is easy to make but requires a bit of patience.  Don’t worry if it doesn’t thicken right away, it will eventually so don’t panic and add more flour.

Ingredient List

Bolognese Sauce

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

• 2 pounds Italian sausage (you can substitute 1 pound mozzarella with hamburger meat)

• ½ teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

• large onion, finely chopped

• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped

• 6 ounces (1 large) carrot, finely chopped

• 5 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped (more or less is fine)

• 1 cup red wine ( I prefer Cabernet because it has more body to it but use what you have!)

• 3 1/2 cups (448 grams) 28 ounces good quality can tomato puree/passata (The key here is using 28 ounces of a tomato product (except paste). I usually use whole San Marzano Tomatoes in the can. I look for cans marked DOP. The DOP means they really did come from the San Marzano region in Italy. That area has a volcano nearby and is thought to be why the tomatoes are superior. (You can use paste, just add water to make a sauce. Its very condensed so be careful you don't overdue the tomato flavor)

• 1 cup (236ml) milk

• 1 cup (236 ml) beef stock

• salt and pepper to taste (as the end after reducing liquid for 4 hours)

Bechamel Sauce

• 2 cups whole milk

• 4 tablespoons butter

• 4 tablespoons flour

• Salt

Other Ingredients needed

• Mozzarella Cheese - buy the brick and shred it yourself so it melts better. Its fine to use the shredded bagged cheese in a pinch, it just won't melt the same.

Optional Ingredients:

• Fresh Mozzarella- the bright white pre-sliced loaf you find in the gourmet section of the grocery store. You can top with this for the final 20-30 minutes of baking.

Bolognese Sauce

My favorite bolognese sauce recipe is found on https://culinaryginger.com/traditional-bolognese-sauce/ Janette has created a very traditional sauce and it is very, very good. The first time making her recipe, we only had a bottle of red wine opened, so I used it instead of the white wine the recipe called for. Wow. It gives the sauce a very rich, deep flavor. Yum. We also love Italian sausage in lasagna. Full disclosure, I never bother with the pancetta. The Italian sausage has so much flavor, it doesn't need it, in my opinion. With these three changes, the recipe moves from authentic to decadent. Indulge, my friends. Thank me later.

1. Using a braiser, high sided skillet or Dutch oven, add the oil and butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted and bubbly, add the onion, celery and carrots, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.

2. Add the Italian sausage, salt, pepper. Brown the sausage, breaking up the meat while cooking.

3. Add the wine, stir and allow to cook and reduce slightly for about 7 minutes. Add the tomatoes, milk, stock and mix well.

4. Partially cover and simmer for 4 hours, stirring often to prevent it sticking to the bottom. If any fat rises to the top, use a spoon to skim it off.

5. If you find that the liquid is not reducing, remove the lid completely and make sure the sauce is bubbling. It may get messy.

6. When done, add additional salt and pepper if needed, and adjust to your taste.

Lasagna Noodles

I prefer fresh pasta whenever possible. If I'm being honest, I can't bring myself to buy boxed pasta anymore. Fresh is best, people. Fresh is very different than boxed, dried noodles. It bakes with your dish, and reminds me of fresh bread. When using fresh pasta sheets or no-boil dried noodles, always add an extra 1/2 cup water to your sauce right before assembling your masterpiece. This gives the pasta the moisture it needs to cook correctly in the oven. If you use traditional dried, boxed noodles, boil the noodles according to package directions prior to assembling the lasagna.

My recipe for lasagna dough is 500 grams semolina flour (all-purpose flour will work fine too) and 180ml liquid. Most of the time I do not use egg in my recipe. I find it tastes great without the egg. It's a lighter dough, and it's easy to work. Traditionally, lasagna noodles would have eggs in the dough. You can add 1, 2, or 3 eggs, but they should be considered as part of the liquid measurement. Put the eggs in the measuring cup. Add water to the eggs until it measures 180ml. Mix egg and water together. In large bowl or stand mixer *, make a well in the flour and pour in the liquid mixture. Mix well until dough forms a ball. Let dough rest for 30 minutes, then lightly dust with flour, roll out fairly thin with a rolling pin and cut into squares or strips. You can use a pasta roller** to get the dough to the right size and thickness. I usually finish my noodles on a 6 or 7 on the pasta roller. Not too thick and not too thin.

*I use a pasta maker made by Philips, but you can mix this in your Kitchenaid mixer, with a hand mixer, or just combine with your hands and knead away.

**You can order a manual or electric pasta roller on amazon, and sometimes Hobby Lobby carries the manual one, and they call it a clay roller.

Bechamél (Balsamella)

Makes about 2 1/2 cups

1. Pour the milk in a small saucepan and place over medium heat. Heat until steam is released when the milk is stirred, just before it boils. You can also microwave the milk until hot. I've also made this using cold milk. It just takes a little longer. When the milk is hot, transfer it to a measuring cup or pitcher with a spout.

2. While the milk is heating, melt the butter in a 2-quart saucepan over medium low heat. Add the flour, mixing it in with a whisk until the mixture is smooth. Cook, whisking constantly, for about a minute. Do not brown.

3. Increase to medium heat and begin adding the hot milk, very slowly at first, mixing with the whisk. Do not be concerned if the mixture becomes quite thick at first. Continue adding the milk slowly while mixing with the whisk. As the consistency becomes thinner, start adding the milk more rapidly until all of it has been mixed in.

4. Season with salt and continue to cook over medium heat, whisking constantly until the sauce begins to thicken, about 15 minutes. The sauce is done when it coats the whisk thickly. Béchamel is best when used the same day but will keep overnight in the refrigerator if necessary. It’s not necessary to reheat the sauce before assembling your lasagna.

Assembling and baking your Lasagna

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

• Use a 10 x 13 deep sided baking dish, or something similar.

• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour 3/4 to 3/4 cup red sauce in bottom of dish.

• Lay your first layer of noodles. I try to keep noodles off the side of the pan. This prevents crunchy noodles around the edges.

• Add a layer of Bolognese Sauce again. 1/2 - 3/4 cup of sauce is plenty.

• Add Bechamel sauce. 1/2 - 3/4 cup works well. It doesn't have to be a heavy layer. And it doesn't have to cover every square inch.

• Add a light layer of Shredded Mozzarella Cheese.

• Add layer of noodles.

• Repeat all layers 3-4 more times. (noodle, Bolognese, bechamel, cheese, repeat)

• Finish with a layer of Bolognese with Mozzarella on top.

• Cook covered with tented aluminum foil, for 30 minutes. Don't forget to tent!

• Uncover (add fresh cheese if you wish) for remaining 20 minutes or until cheese is brown and melted.

• Enjoy your fabulous lasagna! It's a labor or love and totally worth it!