Lasagna Bolognese
This drool-worthy lasagna bolognese is rich, satisfying, cheesy, creamy, and luscious. Loaded with layers, this ultimate comfort meal is amped up with a trick I use to ensure I get my lasagna chicharron fix every time!
Lasagna Bolognese
Makes a 14x10 casserole dish
Listening to: Smile by Jungle
Bolognese Sauce
1 each medium onion, chopped
1 each celery stalk, chopped
1 each small carrot, peeled, chopped
3 TB extra-virgin olive oil
2 lb. Ground beef
1 cup white wine
¼ cup tomato paste
1 ½ cups chicken stock or broth
1 cup whole milk
Pinch of finely grated nutmeg
Balsamic Onions & Mushroom
1 tb olive oil
3 each yellow onions, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
5 oz mushrooms, sliced
3 tb Balsamic Vinegar
Seared Zucchini
1 each yellow squash, sliced in rounds
1 each zucchini
1 tsp vegetable oil
Ricotta Spread
16 oz ricotta
1 each egg
¼ cup parmesan cheese
¼ cup parsley, chopped
To Finish
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
1 box lasagna noodles
½ cup alfredo sauce (optional, I had this in my house so I used it)
TO MAKE BALSAMIC ONIONS,
Heat olive oil in a large skillet
Add onions to skillet and pinch of salt and cook over medium-low heat for 12 to 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.
Remove lid, add the sliced mushrooms and continue to cook over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes
Add the balsamic vinegar; cook and stir over medium heat until liquid evaporates; about 1 minute.
Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat.
TO MAKE BOLOGNESE,
Pulse onion, celery, and carrot in a food processor until very finely chopped. Transfer to a small bowl.
Heat oil in a large pot over medium. Add the chopped vegetables to the pan and cook until vegetables are tender and soft.
Break beef into small clumps and add to the pot; season lightly with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally but not breaking meat apart, until beef is lightly browned.
Pour in the wine and reduce heat to medium-low and cook, smashing down on beef with a wooden spoon, until wine is evaporated,
Add tomato paste, stock, milk and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir in the balsamic caramelized onions and mushrooms.
Reduce heat to the lowest setting and cook, uncovered and stirring occasionally, until meat is very, very tender, 2–2½ hours. When finished, the sauce should have the texture of and look like a sloppy joe mixture. Taste sauce and adjust seasoning with salt.
FOR THE SEARED ZUCCHINI,
Heat the olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
When hot, add the squash, salt and pepper and cook until the squash is tender but still slightly crisp, about 5 minutes.
Transfer the squash to a serving dish
FOR THE RICOTTA,
Combine ricotta, parmesan, parsley, and egg in a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
TO ASSEMBLE,
Preheat the oven to 400F
In a large casserole dish, evenly spread about ¼ cup of the meat sauce across the bottom of the dish.
Top with a single layer of lasagna noodles. Now, this step is important to achieve the lasagna chicharron. If using a 14x10 inch casserole dish as recommended, layer the noodles across the 10inch side. It will seem too long as it comes up to the edges of the dish, do not worry, that’s what you want.
Spread a layer of ricotta mixture on the lasagna noodles, and don’t forget to spread on the noodle edges.
Arrange the seared zucchini over the layer of ricotta.
Add a single layer of shredded mozzarella and parmesan cheese; again, do not forget the edges.
Repeat layers, topping the last layer of noodles with the Bolognese sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella.
If using alfredo sauce, dollop the sauce randomly over the last layer.
If baking right after assembly, bake lasagna uncovered for 18-22 minutes, or until bubbling around the edges. If prepped the day before, preheat the oven to 350F and bake for 40 minutes covered with foil. After 40 minutes, remove the foil, increase the oven temperature to 400F and bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until there is bubbling around the edges.
Allow the lasagna to sit for 5 minutes before serving.
In the times we are living right now, where it seems like the world is falling apart before our very eyes, lasagna is that light at the end of the tunnel that I have been struggling to see. Cheesy, creamy, luscious lasagna. An ultimate comfort food and a meal that always brings people together.
I kept expressing wanting to make lasagna for dinner; the craving has been real for at least two weeks now and I absolutely needed layers of sauce, pasta and gooey cheese in my life. Oh, and lets not forget the best part, the lasagna chicharron; the charred crispy ends of the lasagna that dreams are made of.
This lasagna takes time and it takes patience; something I now have. It is all about the meat sauce. I don’t make a normal meat sauce for lasagna, why would i? I make a Bolognese. A creamy, melt in your mouth Bolognese that cooks low and slow for two hours. I know what you’re thinking, “omg Thais, you are giving us two recipes for the price of one, you are the best!” I know! I made this sauce while virtually catching up with my girlfriends spread around the globe, with a glass of wine in my hand, hardly paying attention to what I was doing. I hope you took that as a hint that this recipe is super easy, if not, THIS RECIPE IS SUPER EASY!
QUICK BOLOGNESE HISTORY:
Now, you may want to sit down for this… the belief that spaghetti bolognese is from Bologna is wrong! GASP!
Ragú in Italy is a general term used to indicate any meat sauce cooked over low heat for many hours. Each ragú is made up of numerous ingredients, and they all vary according to each region. “Alla bolognese” is only one of the many ways which ragù is prepared in Italy.
The Bolognese version of Ragù is made with tomatoes and is usually ONLY served with tagliatelle, tortellini or gnocchi, and never with spaghetti!