Sunday is the day when you have more free time, and what is the best way to use this time? Prepare delicious lasagna with meat sauce! Lasagna is surely one of the most appreciated recipes by Italians and not only that, and everyone has a different version of the meat sauce, some use only beef, some use mixed meats, some add tomato paste and some do not, in short, everyone has their tastes and everyone has their own variant!
In my version, I use mixed minced beef and pork, tomato paste, and I have added some aromatic herbs to give it more flavor, but you can also omit them. I added rosemary, sage, and 1 bay leaf. For the sheets, you can choose to make them at home or buy those from the refrigerated section, which are thin or rustic. For convenience, I buy the thin ones from the supermarket.
The meat sauce must cook for at least 2 hours on low heat, it should not be too liquid nor too concentrated, somewhere in between. Then you prepare the béchamel and let it cool. Now we can start preparing the meat sauce and béchamel! If you want a variant of the meat sauce you can also try:
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6 people
- Cooking methods: Oven, Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients for preparing lasagna with meat sauce
- 12 oz ground beef
- 12 oz ground pork
- 3.5 cups tomato puree
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery
- 1 onion
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
- to taste black pepper
- to taste Grana Padano cheese, grated
- 4.2 cups whole milk
- 3.5 oz all-purpose flour
- 3.5 oz butter
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste nutmeg
Tools
- Pot
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Baking dish
- Whisk
Steps to make lasagna with meat sauce
To prepare lasagna with meat sauce, first prepare the meat sauce, which takes about 2 hours to cook on low heat. Start with the soffritto with celery, carrot, and onion, all chopped into small pieces and placed in a large pot with some extra virgin olive oil. Sauté the vegetables for a couple of minutes and then add the mixed beef and pork, browning them for a few minutes. Now deglaze with red wine, but if you don’t have it, white wine will work just as well, then lower the heat and cook the meat slowly.
Now add the aromatic herbs; I added finely chopped rosemary needles, 2 sage leaves, and 1 bay leaf cut into small pieces, the tomato puree, and 1 teaspoon of tomato paste. Mix well, add salt, and let it cook for about 2 hours, stirring the meat sauce from time to time.
While the meat sauce is cooking, you can start preparing the béchamel. Melt the butter in a pot, then add the all-purpose flour and mix using a whisk, and when you achieve a smooth and homogeneous consistency, you can gradually add the whole milk while continuing to stir. Then season the béchamel with salt and nutmeg and allow it to thicken; it should neither be too liquid nor too thick. It will take about 8 minutes to cook.
Let the béchamel cool as well. If you’re not using it immediately, you can pour it into a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap in contact with the surface, so a skin doesn’t form on top. Then you can finally prepare your lasagna. Take a baking dish and spread a layer of béchamel on the bottom, add the sheets, more béchamel, a layer of meat sauce, and finally a sprinkle of Grana cheese. Continue with the second layer and so on until you’ve used up all the ingredients. On the top layer, add more béchamel, meat sauce, and Grana cheese.
Now preheat the static oven to 356 degrees Fahrenheit and bake your lasagna for about 30 minutes until they form a nice crust on the surface. Remove the lasagna from the oven and let them cool slightly.
Storage and tips
You can store the cooked lasagna in the refrigerator for one day.
If you want, you can omit the aromatic herbs.
You can choose between Grana or Parmesan cheese.
If you don’t have red wine, you can deglaze with white wine; it’s just as delicious.
