Ina Garten-Inspired Lasagna
The ricotta layer is so standard in English-language recipes that most people do not know it is a substitution.
In Emilia-Romagna, where lasagne alle Bolognese comes from, the white layer is béchamel. The difference is structural, not regional pride: a béchamel is a liquid sauce that spreads into a thin, even film across every sheet and sets as it bakes, binding the layers into one thing. Ricotta is a solid that sits in lumps, leaves dry patches between them, and slumps out of the side when you cut a portion.
Ricotta makes a good dish. Béchamel makes a lasagne that holds a slice.
Jump to the recipe ↓Ina Garten-Inspired Lasagna
Serves 8 · Main
- Prep
- 45 min
- Cook
- 1 hr
- Total
- 2 hr 15 min
Involved8 steps, 13 ingredients, a technique that commonly fails, over two hours
Ingredients
For the ragù
- 500 g minced beef, 250 g minced pork
- 150 g pancetta, diced
- 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, all finely diced
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 200 ml red wine
- 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
- 300 ml beef stock
- 200 ml whole milk
For the béchamel
- 80 g butter, 80 g plain flour
- 1 litre whole milk, warmed
- 1/2 tsp grated nutmeg
To assemble
- 12 lasagne sheets
- 150 g Parmesan, grated
Method
- Render the pancetta, then brown the minces hard. Add the vegetables and soften
- Add tomato purée, cook , then the wine and reduce by half.2 minutes
- Add tomatoes, stock and milk. Simmer , uncovered, until thick.2 hours
- Melt the butter, cook the flour , whisk in the warm milk, and simmer to a pouring sauce. Add nutmeg and salt.2 minutes
- Heat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan).
- Layer: a little béchamel, sheets, ragù, béchamel spread thinly to the edges, Parmesan. Repeat, finishing with béchamel and Parmesan.
- Cover with foil and bake , then uncover for 20.40 minutes
- Rest before cutting.30 minutes
The ragù has to be thick and long-cooked
Two hours minimum, until it is thick enough that a spoon dragged through leaves a channel. A wet sauce turns the whole dish into soup and no amount of resting will fix it. This is the step that cannot be shortened, and it is why lasagne is a weekend dish.
Rest it thirty minutes before cutting
Everything in it is liquid at the moment it leaves the oven — the béchamel, the ragù, the melted cheese. All three firm as they cool. Cut it hot and it slides apart; cut it at forty minutes and it stands up on the plate.
Milk in the ragù
A cupful added partway through and simmered until absorbed tenderises the meat and takes the sharp edge off the tomatoes. It is in the traditional recipe, it looks odd going in, and it is the difference between a Bolognese and a mince in tomato sauce.
Storing
Four days, and it slices more cleanly on day two. It freezes well assembled and raw or fully baked, for three months. From frozen, 180°C for 90 minutes, covered for the first hour.
Questions people ask
Ricotta or béchamel?
Béchamel is traditional for a Bolognese lasagne and holds the layers together better. Ricotta is the American convention.
Do I need to boil the sheets?
Not if the sauces are generous and the dish is covered for the first stage.
Why does mine collapse when I cut it?
It was not rested. Thirty minutes out of the oven is a cooking step.
How long should the ragù cook?
Two hours at least. It needs to be thick enough to hold a channel behind a spoon.
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Ina Garten-Inspired Beef Stroganoff: Not Stewing SteakStroganoff is a fast dish and stewing beef needs hours. Use fillet or sirloin, seared in seconds, or it turns grey and tough.
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