Authentic Lasagne

By msweeney

Ingredients

• Ingredients:
• 2-3 tbsp Olive oil
• 25 g (1/4 stick) Butter, plus a extra for greasing
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 1/2 celery stalk, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 kg (2 1/2 lbs) freshly ground beef
• 400 ml (1 3/4 cups) red wine
• 600 g (1 1/4 lb) tinned chopped tomatoes
• bunch of fresh basil
• 12 sheets fresh lasagne sheets
• 100 g (1 cup) Parmesan, freshly grated
• salt and fresh ground black pepper
• For the Bechamel sauce:
• 90 g (3/4 stick) butter in a saucepan
• 90 g (3/4 cups) plain flour
• 850 ml (3 1/2 cups) milk
• pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

Details

Servings 1
Adapted from clodaghmckenna.com

Preparation

Step 1

There are many versions of lasagne throughout the world but this recipe is the most authentic. I learned how to make it when I lived in Italy and even my Italian friends agreed it was how their grandmothers used to make it!

1. Place a flameproof casserole dish (Dutch oven) over a medium heat and add the olive oil and the butter, followed by the onion, carrot, celery and garlic – stir and cook for 5 minutes until softened.

2. Stir in the beef and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef has turned a light brown colour. Pour in the red wine and let it simmer for about 20 minutes.

3. Stir in the tomatoes and fresh basil. Lower the heat and leave to simmer for an hour or more if you can. The longer you allow it to simmer the more tender the meat becomes.

4. To make your béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan, stir in the flour and cook for 2 minutes until it resembles a small piece of dough. Slowly whisk in the milk, stirring all the time. Turn down heat and cook until the sauce starts to thicken, it should coat the back of a wooden spoon. Stir in a pinch of fresh nutmeg. The béchamel sauce should be creamy in texture, if it becomes too thick add more milk.

5. Preheat the oven to 180 oC / 350oF

6. Grease a shallow baking dish. Pour a layer (about half an inch thick) of meat sauce into the baking dish, enough to cover the base. Followed by a thin layer of béchamel sauce and a grating of parmesan cheese and then place a layer of lasagne sheets on top. Continue with two or three more layers. Finally smear a layer of béchamel on top of the last layer of lasagne sheets and a final generous sprinkling of Parmesan cheese.