Several months ago a commenter on this site, by the name of “El Cocinero Loco” (The Crazy Cook) left a detailed and delightful lasagna Bolognese recipe in the comments of one of our recipes. The recipe given was a little incomplete; I had to fill in the blanks by referring to a few cookbooks. But it sounded so good that we just had to try it. Yes it takes hours, and yes, it is worth it. Mr. Loco’s commentary is quite amusing, so I do encourage you to read it (just scroll down the comments below).
2 ounces diced pancetta, finely chopped 1 medium Spanish onion or yellow onion, finely chopped 1 rib celery, finely chopped 1 carrot, finely chopped 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 11 ounces ground beef 4 ounces ground pork 4 ounces ground Italian sausage 1 clove, freshly ground Dash freshly ground cinnamon 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 2 pounds tomatoes , peeled and chopped, or 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes 1 cup whole milk 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Béchamel Sauce:
2 cups whole milk 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Lasagna:
About 16 sheets lasagna noodles (De Cecco brand recommended), enough to make 4 layers in a 13 x 9-inch baking pan with the noodles overlapping each other a little bit 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a separate pan melt the unsalted butter with the flour over low heat. Stir rapidly with a spoon. Cook this for 1 minute and then remove from the heat. (See Wikipedia on Béchamel Sauce for more information on this sauce.) Lay the individual lasagna noodles out on kitchen towels, not touching, so they do not stick together while you layer the casserole. Put a layer of lasagna noodles down first. Layer on a third of the bolognese sauce, then a third of the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Repeat two more times. Top with a final layer of noodles and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Remove from oven and let cool 5-10 minutes before serving.
