About the Recipe
This is a ricotta-free version of the Italian classic, made extra rich with a creamy bechamel sauce!
Ingredients
1 box “no boil” lasagna noodles 1 lb block whole milk mozzarella (shred it yourself!) Non-stick spray Fresh basil leaves or parsley for presentation Meat Sauce 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp dry oregano 1 Tbsp dry basil 1 Tbsp dry parsley
6 cloves minced garlic 1 onion, chopped 1 c red wine 1 small can tomato paste 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes 1 lb ground beef 1 lb sweet Italian sausage 2 carrots, cleaned and minced 2 stalks celery, cleaned and minced 1 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
Bechamel Sauce
1/4 tsp nutmeg 1 tsp sea salt 1/2 tsp pepper 6 c whole milk (1-1/2 quarts) 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (3/4 stick) 6 oz all purpose flour
1/2 c parmesan cheese
Preparation
Heat olive oil in large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and saute just until translucent. Add carrot and celery and saute an additional 5 minutes. Break up beef and sausage and crumble into pan. Keep stirring until fully broken up and all pink color is gone. Reduce heat to medium and add wine, scraping up and brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Allow to reduce by half. Now add tomato paste and blend well. Add crushed tomatoes, oregano, dry basil, parsley, salt and black and red peppers and reduce heat to low. Allow to simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. This will help thicken the sauce, which should be very thick so the lasagna isn’t runny. While sauce is simmering, add butter and flour into a 3-4 quart saucepan over medium heat. As it melts, add flour and combine until a pasty yellow liquid forms (this is called a ROUX - pronounced ROO). After the roux cooks for about a minute, whisk in milk a cup at a time, allowing it to come up to temperature after each cup. Now add salt, pepper and nutmeg and whick occasionally until liquid starts to bubble and thicken. Mix in parmesan cheese. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9”x13” pan with non-stick cooking spray and ladle some meat sauce on the bottom. Now add a layer of the no boil noodles over the sauce (don’t worry about what direction the noodles are in - once everything bakes, you won’t know the difference! Just create a layer covering as much of the bottom as you can). Ladle more sauce over the dry noodles. Now ladle some bechamel sauce directly over the meat sauce and sprinkle a LIGHT layer of shredded mozzarella on top (I ask that you shred the mozzarella yourself because the bagged pre-shredded stuff usually contains “anti-caking” agents so the shreds won’t stick together. This will affect how the cheese melts). Add another layer of noodles, more meat sauce, more bechamel, and another light layer of mozzarella. When you get to your last layer of noodles, simply top with some meat sauce and the remaining mozzarella (here’s where you can add a heavy layer!). Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes. IMPORTANT: allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before attempting to cut into the lasagna or you will have a runny mess! Serve sprinkled with chopped Italian parsley or some fresh basil leaves. HACK: If you are in a rush, you can “cheat” with a jarred sauce. IT WILL NOT BE THE SAME. For the meat sauce, brown your sausage and beef in a little olive oil, then pour in 2 jars of your favorite marinara and let simmer for 30 minutes - that’s the entire list of ingredients for the “cheat” meat sauce - ignore everything else). Now follow all the other directions above. It really won’t be as good as making the sauce from scratch, but if you are on a deadline, it’ll do!