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Episode 113

Lasagna al Forno

Recipe Courtesy: Inside the Rustic Kitchen

Ragu

1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup carrot, finely chopped (1 large)
1 cup stalk celery, finely chopped (1 large)
1 cup white onion, finely chopped (1 large)
1 lb ground beef (mince), (500g)
1 lb ground pork (mince), (500g)
2.5 cups Passata (tomato puree US), (540g)
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 cups red wine, (250ml)
6 cups beef stock, (1.5 litres)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp sea salt flakes and pepper

 

White Sauce

5 tbsp butter, (70g)
5 tbsp flour all-purpose, (70g)
4 cups full fat milk, (1 litre)
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup parmesan, freshly grated (70g)
1 tsp sea salt salt and pepper, or to taste

Lasagna

1 lb fresh lasagna pasta sheets, (17 oz/500g)
2 balls mozzarella, (8 oz/250g)

Instructions
Ragu
Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and saute the vegetables gently in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Once the vegetables are soft add the beef and pork mince and cook until browned.
If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, spoon some out. Add the red wine and reduce by half.
Once the wine has reduced, add the passata (tomato puree), tomato paste, bay leaves, 4 cups of beef stock (1 litre) and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Stir everything together and leave to simmer on a low heat for 2.5-3 hours uncovered. Add the rest of the beef stock half way through.
White Sauce
Add the butter to a saucepan and cook until melted and bubbling.
Add the flour to the melted butter and stir to form a paste. Let the flour cook for 1 minute.
Slowly whisk half of the milk into the butter and flour constantly whisking to avoid any lumps. Once it has started to thicken add the rest of the milk, nutmeg, parmesan and a pinch of salt and pepper.
Continue to heat the sauce whilst stirring until thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Take off the heat and set aside.
Assemble the lasagna
Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
To assemble the lasagna, spoon a small amount of ragu on the very bottom of the baking dish. Top with and even layer of lasagna pasta sheets (cut the pasta sheets to fit your baking dish).
Add a few more spoons of ragu so the pasta is completely covered followed by 2 ladles of white sauce.
Repeat the layers of pasta, ragu and bechamel sauce until everything is used up making sure to keep enough of bechamel sauce for the very top layer (you should have 4-5 layers of pasta).
Cover the top layer of the lasagna with torn mozzarella and then bake in the oven for 45minutes or until bubbling and golden.
Let it cool slightly for 5-10 minutes before serving.

 

Fresh Pasta

400 g 00’ Flour, (3 cups spooned and levelled)
4 large eggs, free range
1 egg yolk, free range

Instructions

• Place the flour on a clean work surface, make a well in the middle and add the eggs (photo 1).
• Using a fork whisk the eggs whilst slowly incorporating the flour until combined and looks like a very rough dough (photo 2 & 3). You may need to use your hands once most of the egg is incorporated to help it along.
• Bring the dough together with your hands to form a ball. Knead the dough for 10 minutes until smooth and pliable. Wrap the dough in cling film and leave to rest for 30 minutes, out of the fridge (photos 4-6).
• Once the dough is rested it’s time to roll it out. Cut the dough in half so it’s easier to roll out and flatten it with the palm of your hand so it will fit through the first setting on the pasta machine, usually 0 (photos 7 & 8).
• Pass the dough through the widest setting once then fold one side over the other as shown on photos 9 and 10. Flatten the dough with the palm of your hand again so it will fit through the widest setting and roll it through again.
• Repeat this process, folding the sides in and passing it through the widest setting one more time. Once you’ve done that pass the dough through each setting once from the widest to the second last setting (number 7).

Lasagna

• Ok so, lasagna sheets are super simple just roll the pasta dough through the machine until you reach the second last setting (my personal preference) or the very last setting. Cut the lasagna sheets to the right size to fit your dish and you’re good to go.