I love to cook (and eat, but those two kind of go together, no?). And in my world, there is nothing better than simple food that’s comforting, especially during the cold months of the year here in Chicagoland.
A couple of weeks ago I made this bolognese and the ensuing lasagna, and several folks asked me to share my recipes for both. I’m long overdue here, but here they are in all their glory. Please note that I’m an inexact chef, which means I cook a lot by taste and tweak. That means that these recipes are my closest approximation to what I actually do and put in there, but there’s always a bit of improvisation going on. That’s half the fun of cooking, and I hope you’ll do some tweaking of your own.
Veal Bolognese
A good bolognese is actually one of the simplest things in the world. The key is patience, and letting it cook for a long, long time. It’ll be torture, but the wait will be worth it and your house will smell awesome. And if you don’t get far enough to make the lasagna, grab a great hunk of crusty italian bread and just dig in. That’s dinner in itself.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground veal and 1 lb ground pork OR 1 1/2 lbs ground veal and 1/2 lb ground pork (this is the way I do it)
1/2 lb ground round or chuck (beef)4-5 slices of bacon or pancetta
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 oz dried porcini mushrooms (reconstituted and chopped) or small container crimini mushrooms, finely chopped
4 or 5 garlic cloves, minced
Extra-virgin olive oil for sautéing and drizzling
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs rosemary
2 cups milk
1 (28-ounce) can crushed or pureed tomatoes, San Marzano if you can get them.
2 cups dry red wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Chop the mushrooms, carrots, onion, celery and garlic as finely as possible. If desired, chop or mince together in a food processor or blender. (Depends on the eventual consistency you want; I don’t mind small vegetable pieces in mine but the purists might tell you that finer is better).
In a heavy-bottomed pot, cook the bacon until brown and crispy. Remove bacon pieces and set aside. Add olive oil, bay leaves, rosemary and cook gently until fragrant (less than a minute or two), then add vegetables and cook 5 to 10 minutes until slightly tender.
Raise the heat a bit and add the ground veal and beef; cook until the meat is just no longer pink (don’t overbrown), breaking up with a wooden spoon until the meat is in tiny, crumbly bits. Add the milk and simmer until the liquid is evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and wine and season with salt and pepper. Bring the sauce to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Simmer for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, stirring now and then, until the sauce is very thick. If needed, cook last 15-20 minutes uncovered to reduce and thicken.
That’s it. Have extra? Freeze it. It reheats beautifully later.
Lasagna Bolognese
So, there’s two ways to do this lasagna.
Traditionally, lasagna bolognese uses a bechamel or a besciamella sauce, which is a white sauce (recipe below). You can also do it with a more American-style ricotta mixture to layer with, which I’ll also include here. The only difference in assembly is that you either use the bechamel sauce OR the ricotta mixture when layering. The bechamel lasagna will be thinner and a bit more loose in texture (and incredibly rich). The lasagna with the ricotta layer will be thicker and more firm, and milder in taste with the familiar mozzarella gooeyness. All depends on your taste. I love them both for different reasons, and alternate them with my mood.
I use no-boil flat lasagna noodles from Barilla, because it’s just easier that way (the noodles cook right in the pan while the lasagna bakes). But if pre-boiling noodles is your thing, it’ll work just fine that way, too.
This recipe will make a hefty-sized pan of lasagna that will easily feed 6-8 people, but you can expand the recipe as needed and feed an army.
Ingredients:
Lasagna noodles (1/2 to 1 lb, either no-boil or pre cooked)
Veal Bolognese or whatever other sauce you want to use, like a vegetarian marinara
Grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (splurge on the good stuff, trust me it’s worth it)
Bechamel Sauce OR Ricotta cheese mixture
Ricotta mixture
Sorry this is pretty inexact, but it’s really a feel and taste thing. You want your cheese layer loose enough to spread easily, but you can add or subtract grated cheese to your taste, depending on whether you want yours stringy and gooey or not. The more mozz you add both here and in the assembly, the more of the cheesy stringy yumminess you’ll end up with (and the milder the flavor overall).
15 oz container of ricotta cheese
2 eggs
a splash or two of half and half
2-3 tbsp finely chopped parsley
a handful or two of grated parmesan cheese
another handful or two of grated fresh mozzarella cheese
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4-1/2 tsp dried oregano
salt and pepper
Bechamel Sauce: (this is Mario Batali’s version, but they’re all just about the same)
5 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons flour
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
In a medium saucepan, heat butter until melted. Add flour and stir until smooth. Over medium heat, cook until light golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat milk in separate pan until just about to boil. Add milk to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth and bring to a boil. Cook 10 minutes and remove from heat. Season with salt and nutmeg and set aside.
Assembly and Baking:
Bechamel version: Start with a layer of bolognese, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, a layer of noodles, a layer of bechamel, and then repeat until you’ve got 4-5 layers or until you’ve used up all the noodles and sauce (that’ll all depend on how much you started with and the dimensions of your pan). The top layer should be pasta with bechamel over it. Top the lasagna with grated Parm. Bake at 375 until the edges are browned and the sauces are bubbling, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Ricotta version: Start with a layer of bolognese and a sprinkling of parmesan, then a layer of noodles, a layer of the ricotta cheese mixture, then bolognese sauce, a bit of shredded parm and mozz cheese if you like, then repeat until all the sauce and noodles are gone. Top layer should be noodles with bolognese over it and a generous layer of grated cheese. Bake at 375 loosely covered with foil for 45 to 75 minutes (depending on how thick your pan and lasagna is), then remove foil and bake until top layer of cheese is just golden brown (another 10 minutes or so). No foil? No worries. Bake without the last layer of cheese, and add the grated cheese 15 minutes before the end of baking time to melt and brown.
Most importantly for either, let it REST before serving. The sauces and cheese need a chance to cool down a bit so you can get nice pieces when you slice into it. Freezes well if you wrap it nice and tight; also even better the next day. 
Cheers and happy eating.
