Lasagna with meatballs: the perfect recipe for Fat Tuesday
Fat Tuesday is the ideal occasion to prepare a rich and tasty dish, and lasagna with meatballs is the perfect choice to celebrate this tradition. My mother always had three options for the last day of Carnival: cannelloni, manfredi with ricotta, or the classic lasagna with meatballs. The first two recipes were already on the blog, so this year I decided to make up for it and share this delight with you.
The only regret? Not being able to take a better photo! I hoped there would be at least one square of lasagna left for the shot, but it was such a hit that everyone had seconds. No matter: I’ll have to make another one just for a new photo!
Discover the full recipe and bring to the table the true Carnival lasagna with meatballs, a dish that will win everyone over at the first taste.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 50 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop, Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 12 oz ground beef
- 1 egg
- as needed stale bread
- 1 oz grated Grana Padano
- as needed salt
- as needed seed oil (for frying)
- 5 oz ground beef
- 2 tomato sauce (2 bottles of 24 fl oz)
- 1/2 carrot
- 1/2 white onion
- 1/2 celery
- as needed salt
- as needed extra virgin olive oil
- 2 leaves basil
- 1/2 glass red wine
- 14 oz egg lasagna
- 9 oz Fior di latte (or scamorza)
- as needed grated Grana Padano
Tools
- 1 High-edged saucepan
- 1 Baking pan
- 1 Wooden spoon
Steps
To prepare a rich and flavorful lasagna with meatballs, we start with the base: the sauce.
To make a tasty ragù, we start by finely chopping carrot, onion, and celery, then sauté them in a pan with a drizzle of oil for a few minutes. Add 5 oz of mixed ground meat, let it brown, and deglaze with half a glass of red wine. Once the alcohol has evaporated, pour in the tomato sauce and a glass of water, season with salt, add the basil, and let it cook on low heat for about 20-25 minutes.
Preparation of meatballs.
While the sauce cooks, we take care of the fried meatballs, an iconic element of Carnival lasagna. Soak the stale bread, then squeeze it well and mix it in a bowl with the ground meat, an egg, salt, and Grana Padano. For a stronger flavor, you can substitute part of the Grana with Pecorino Romano. Work the mixture and form our meatballs, then fry them in hot oil until golden. Once ready, drain them on paper towels to remove excess oil.
Lasagna assembly
Now that we have sauce and meatballs ready, we can assemble our lasagna.
Pour a few ladles of sauce on the bottom of a baking pan.
Create the first layer of lasagna sheets.
Add the meatballs, pieces of Fior di latte, and plenty of Grana Padano.
If desired, you can also add a layer of béchamel (I prefer not to).
Cover with more sauce and continue with subsequent layers until the ingredients are finished or the edge of the pan is reached.
On the last layer, distribute plenty of sauce, Grana, a few meatballs, and pieces of Fior di latte.
Bake in a fan oven at 338°F for about 30 minutes. Once baked, let it rest for a few minutes before cutting and serving.
Lasagna with meatballs is ready to conquer everyone with its irresistible flavor!
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