Region: Emilia Romagna

Lasagne alla Bolognese is a great dish famous all over the world and typical of the Emilia Romagna cuisine and more precisely of the city of Bologna.

Ingredients for 8 people:

For the Ragu’ alla Bolognese (Bolognese sauce):

2 small carrots finely diced
1 medium size onion chopped
1 celery finely diced
5 oz. of pancetta ground
1 pound of ground veal (or you can use 1 pound of ground beef)
1 pound of ground pork
3 cans canned tomatoes (drain the tomatoes and run them through a sieve or a food mill)
1 cup whole milk
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
1 cup dry white wine

For the besciamella (white sauce):

4 1/4 cups whole milk
freshly grated nutmeg as needed
7 tablespoons of unsalted butter
salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed
5 tablespoons of all purpose flour

1 package of lasagne

Directions:

First we start by preparing the ragu’ alla Bolognese which will take longer to be ready. Chop finaly with a nife or the help of a mixer onion, carrots celery. Warm up oil in a pan and add the chopped veggies. Sautee on a low fire for at least 20 minutes untill it’s all dry. Add the ground veal and the ground pork to the pan. Mix all with a wooden spoon to cook evenly and without anything attaching to the bottom of the pan. When the meat is ready and dry, add the white vine and let it cook until completely evaporated. Now add the whole canned tomatoes previously … At this point add water, mix everything with the wooden spoon and let it cook for at least 2 hours. During the cooking time adjust the salt and pepper as needed. If it gets to dry too early, add more water as needed. When the ragu’ is almost ready, add the milk and mix everithing. When the ragu’ is finally done, take the pan away from the fire.

Now is time for the preparation of the besciamella. Get a pan and warm up the milk. In the meanwhile in another pan start melting the butter on a low flame, when melted take away from the fire and add the flower to it. Mix energetically the melted butter and the flower using a whisk. After making sure that there are not more lumps, place the pan back on the fire just enough to give a little color. When the milk is warm, add a little freshly grated nutmeg and a little salt. At this point add it to the other pan with the butter and flower mix. Mix all energetically with the whisk and let the mix become dense and creamy on a low flame for 5-6 minutes, untill there aren’t anymore lumps.

At this point is time for the preparation of the lasagne. Get a tray and distribute a thin and uniform layer of besciamella to cover the entire surface, add a layer of lasagne and then add another thin and uniform layer of besciamella on top. Now spread the entire surface with the ragu’ and grated chease. At this point create another layer of lasagne but start from the opposite site. Add another layer of besciamella to cover the entire surface. Repeat this process by adding more layers of besciamella, ragu’ and grated chease untill you reach 6 layers. Finish all with a layer of ragu’ and a more abondant layer of grated parmigiano chease. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Once done, place the finished tray in the preheated oven and let it cook for 25 minutes. The lasagne alla Bolognese will be ready when you see a light golden crust on the surface. Take the tray out ant let it cool down before serving. Now enjoy!