To improve my cooking skills, I enjoy pushing myself in the kitchen by attempting to make one meal each week that I make entirely from scratch. This week, I made a lasagna with fresh pasta sheets and ragu bolognese with bechamel sauce, except for the cheeses which I used pre-made.

This lasagna recipe was made with lots of care and took around 4 hours from start to finish. I understand that's a long time for those seeking a quick recipe, so there are ways to reduce the time and still end up with a delicious meal.

If you have the time or feel like a challenge, I strongly suggest making this dish. It's definitely worth the time, and I'll be making it again because I couldn't stop thinking about it.

recipe notes

This recipe uses a traditional sauce called bechamel instead of ricotta in the lasagna. Bechamel is a classic French sauce made with milk and a thickened mixture called roux. It's seasoned with nutmeg to create a delicious creamy sauce. Using ricotta can make the lasagna watery and harder to hold together which I’d avoid using for this.

For this recipe, I made my own lasagna sheets and included the egg measurements. For the full recipe, see my pasta all’uovo recipe.

Yield: 6

By: Denise Martinez

lasagna with truffle bechamel

Prep time: 3 H & 30 MCook time: 35 MinTotal time: 4 H & 5 M

Cook modePrevent screen from turning off

Ingredients

Ragu Bolognese

extra virgin olive oil, 2 fluid ounces
butter, unsalted 2 ounces
onion, small dice 2 ounces
carrot, small dice 2 ounces
celerey, small dice, 2 each
ground veal, 8 ounces
ground pork, 8 ounces
prosciutto, finely chopped, 2 ounces
white wine, 4 fluid ounces
tomato paste, 2 ounces
beef stock, 16 fluid ounces
parsley, 2 sprigs
sage, 2 sprigs
thyme, 2 sprigs
nutmeg, ground, 1 dash
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
heavy cream, 4 fluid ounces

Lasagna Sheets

6 egg yolks
4 eggs
salt, pinch
510 grams 00 flour or all purpose/4 cups
more flour for dusting

Truffle Bechamel

milk, 48 oz
onion, half
all purpose flour, 2 ounces
unsalted butter, 2 ounces
pinch ground nutmeg
salt and white pepper to taste
truffle oil, 2 tsp

For Assembly

parmigiano reggiano, grated, 6 ounces
mozzarella cheese, grated, 6 ounces

Instructions

in a preheated saucepan, combine oil and butter.
Once the butter has melted, add onions, carrots and celery. cook over moderate heat for about 10 minutes.
add the ground meats and prosciutto, making sure to break them up.
cook until the meats are lightly browned.
combine the wine and tomato paste, add to the saucepan and simmer for about 3-4 minutes.
add the stock, parsley, sage, thyme, nutmeg, salt and pepper and bring to a low simmer. cook over low heat, uncovered for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours or more depending on how much flavor you’d like the sauce to accumulate. occasionally skim sauce for any fat that may pool around the top of the pot. this will prevent your sauce from being too greasy.
once the sauce has finished simmering, remove from heat and add in heavy cream. your sauce should be thick but wet enough to provide moisture to cook your noodles. bolognese should not be watery.
set aside.
while the sauce is simmering, begin the process of making the pasta dough. if you are not making fresh pasta you can skip this step.
for lasagna sheets, follow my pasta all’uovo recipe with the measurements listed above. after letting the dough rest for about 30 minutes, roll out the pasta until number 7 or until dough is about 1/16 inch thick.
cut off any excess from pasta sheet so that edges are nice and even rectangles that are around 13 inches long. Take a sheet tray lined with cornmeal or flour and place each pasta sheet on the tray. Adding more cornmeal or flour on top of each sheet as you stack to prevent sticking.
once the pasta sheets are done, and while sauce is still simmering create the bechamel sauce.
take a medium sauce pot and place on medium-high heat.
preheat your oven to 375. (to cook your lasagna)
in your sauce pot, heat milk to a scald with half of an onion, 2 cloves and 1 bay leaf. once the milk comes to a scald, strain milk to remove the aromatics and set aside.
in a separate pot, make a white roux.
take your butter (2 oz) and add it into the pot to melt gently. once the butter has melted, add in your flour slowly (2oz) and whisk together until the mixture forms wet sand. cook the flour for about 3-4 minutes. NO COLOR.
slowly add in your hot milk to the roux, whisking and stirring constantly to remove lumps.
simmer and stir often with a spoon and whisk for about 30 minutes. careful not to let the mixture burn.
add in the truffle oil. then season with salt, nutmeg and white pepper and stir to mix.
if mixture is too thick, add in more milk if necessary. the mixture should be enough to drizzle, and when picking up your whisk, ribbons should form. the mixture should not be watery.
strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve.
cover the sauce with plastic wrap to prevent a film/skin from forming and set aside.
Once your bolognese has finished cooking, assemble your lasagna.
In a 9 x 18 inch baking dish, place a layer of bolognese on the bottom.
add your first layer of pasta sheets, another layer of the bolognese and a layer of bechamel on top of that. sprinkle parmigiano and mozzarella on top of the bechamel layer. repeat this process until you’ve reached the top of your baking dish.
add more mozzarella to the top layer and cover with an oil lined foil sheet and place in the oven for about 35-40 minutes.
after 25 minutes, uncover the lasagna and cook uncovered until done.
place lasagna under the broiler on high for around 3-4 minutes, watching carefully as the cheese can easily burn.
broil until the cheese is golden and lasagna is bubbling.
garnish entire lasagna with minced parsley and rest for 10 minutes.
serve immediately.