Baked lasagna is known worldwide. For this reason there are many versions of this exquisite first pasta course and every region — even every family — has its own personal recipe.
It consists of assembling in a baking dish layers of egg pasta sheets filled with meat ragù, béchamel, mozzarella and Parmigiano, but every mother and every grandmother has her personal touch.
I remember that on Sundays and holidays lasagna could not be missing from our table and the women in my family enjoyed customizing it. My grandmother always added chopped hard-boiled eggs and cooked ham, while my aunt even broke all the rules with fried chicken livers.
Having grown up in the shadow of their perfect recipes, I chose not to compete with my relatives, but I cannot help passing down to my children the classic baked lasagna recipe with meat ragù.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Economical
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
- 9 oz egg lasagna sheets (dry)
- as needed meat ragù (see the recipe)
- 9 oz mozzarella (shred or tear into small pieces)
- 4 1/4 2 1/8 cups béchamel (see the recipe)
- 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about 3.5 oz)
- as needed butter
Preparation
With a 10 1/4 x 7 7/8 in baking dish you’ll get 6 generous portions. In this recipe we’ll use dry egg pasta sheets directly in the oven without pre-cooking them.
First you must prepare the meat ragù (the recipe is here). The quantity is perfect for this lasagna; you can thin it slightly with a little water or milk to make it more fluid. You can prepare it the day before, since the meat ragù requires slow cooking.
Also make the béchamel (the recipe is here). It’s very simple to prepare with my method and in 5 minutes you’ll have a smooth, creamy béchamel to fill the lasagna.
Take the mozzarella and shred or pull it apart with your hands into small pieces.
Place the butter near all the ingredients and begin assembling the lasagna.Lightly butter the baking dish and pour in two ladles of ragù to cover the bottom.
Place the first layer of dry egg pasta sheets, more meat ragù on top, a layer of béchamel, scatter the mozzarella, then the grated Parmigiano, and finally a few small knobs of butter.Repeat the layering of the lasagna with the egg pasta sheets and the remaining ingredients 4/5 more times, until the dish is filled. Always leave about 1/4 inch from the rim of the baking dish so that during baking the juices do not overflow.
Preheat the oven to 356°F, place the baking dish with the lasagna inside and bake for 30 minutes on the lowest rack of the oven.
The last 5 minutes of cooking are dedicated to the top crust of the lasagna: move it to the top shelf of the oven and switch the broiler (grill) on.
