Grandma’s lasagna with ragù is always the best; perhaps because they objectively are, or maybe because grandmas are always grandmas. Lasagna is one of my favorite first courses. They can be made with dry or fresh egg pasta sheets and without; they can be filled and seasoned in many different ways: with meat, fish, vegetables, vegan, vegetarian, and so on. They are rich, very fragrant, and suitable for celebrating important moments, occasions, Carnival, etc… The wonderful smell of lasagna immediately brings a festive atmosphere to the house, and the more succulent the lasagna, the more our guests will appreciate it. By the way, the portions are generous because grandma’s quantities are always abundant.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 10/12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring, Carnival
Ingredients
- 1 package fresh pasta sheets for lasagna
- 1 provola (fresh or aged)
- to taste mix of grated Grana and Pecorino cheese
- 26 oz ground veal
- 1 liter tomato sauce
- 1 leaf bay
- 12 oz peas (in a jar)
- 1 carrot
- 1 golden onion
- 1 stalk celery
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- to taste fine salt
- to taste ground pepper
- 1/2 cup water
Tools
- 1 Baking Pan
Preparation
We can use a disposable aluminum pan for 6 servings or 8 servings; or another material pan measuring 10 x 12 inches.
Prepare the meat ragù. In a very large pan, sauté a very fine mince of onion, carrot, and celery stalk over low heat. When the mince is completely wilted, increase the heat, add the meat and the bay leaf, and let it brown perfectly, stirring often (about ten minutes). The meat should be perfectly browned, with no liquid present.
Then, pour in the wine and let the alcohol evaporate. Finally, add salt, pepper, peas (already drained from the preserving liquid and rinsed under running water), tomato sauce, and half a cup of water (which we will have poured into the empty tomato sauce bottle first, to get all the tomato out) and continue cooking for about 35/40 minutes maximum, over low heat, covered.
If we use dry pasta sheets, I recommend a slightly more liquid ragù, so don’t let it thicken too much.
On the lasagna sheets (both fresh pasta and dry), I prefer to add boiling sauces; this way, the pasta will cook much faster.
Meanwhile, cut the provola into small pieces (or slice it very thinly) and grate the two cheeses.
Turn on the oven to 390°F.
Pour a ladle of boiling ragù on the bottom of the baking pan. Make a first layer of lasagna sheets, season with provola, a little more ragù, and a sprinkle of grated cheese mix.
Form a second layer of pasta, placing the sheets in the opposite direction to the previous layer, and season as above. Make a third layer of pasta and continue until all ingredients are used. Pour the remaining grandma’s ragù over our lasagna and sprinkle with some grated cheese and a few more pieces of provola.
Bake our lasagna with ragù on the lowest rack for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Put them under the grill for a few minutes to form a crust. Remove from the oven and serve. The next day they will be even tastier.
The extra idea. This is the official version of grandma’s lasagna with ragù. Sometimes, however, I also add a little homemade béchamel (just a little, I swear) between each layer of lasagna, but let’s not tell grandma.
