The best Meat and Ricotta Lasagna
Making a meat lasagna tips of the trade
From years of experimenting with meat lasagna and ricotta filling, I've come up with a few insights. Some are obvious, sure, but some can really change your lasagna for good — here they are:- Don't cook fresh pasta dough in boiling water — it cooks fully in the oven. Think of it as cooking a thin dough twice: first in water, then in the oven. Doing that gets you soggy pasta layers, and we actually want pasta with some bite and resistance.
- On every pasta layer, spread tomato paste regardless of the topping. The tomato paste softens the pasta sheets, keeping them nice and moist.
- Make every layer nice and thick. We don't want a lasagna where the layers are too close together — we want each layer to have a distinct flavor and its own character.
- Make a runnier than usual Bechamel sauce. It'll be easier to spread over the pasta sheets without breaking the structure.
Method
- 1
preparing the tomato sauce· 1 1/2 hour
this can be done in advance, even couple of days prior to making the lasagna, i usually make about a gallon of tomato/ 4 liters sauce freeze some of it and save can or two in the fridge its handy for every purpose, you can see the detailed tomato sauce making on one of the earlier posts or just follow these guidelines. in a large sauce pan heat the olive oil, add the onions and garlic and cook until transparent, add the fresh tomatoes , carrot, tomato paste and canned tomatoes, water and bring pot to a simmer. add basil, thyme, salt and pepper and cook on low heat for about an hour and a half. remove thyme branches and crush into a smooth sauce using a hand blender.
- 2
Making Pasta Dough· 10 minutes
combine flour and eggs and salt and knead by hand into a dough. place dough in a plastic wrap and put in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- 3
preparing the Ricotta filling· 2 minutes
in a bowl press gently on the ricotta with a fork, add the grated Pecorino and mix, place bowl in the fridge until assembly of the lasagna.
- 4
preparing the meat filling· 30 minutes
Set an iron skillet over medium-high heat, add olive oil, onions, garlic, celery and cook until transparent, add the carrots and cook for 5 more minutes. add the beef and mix it with the vegetables until it incorporated completely for about 5 minutes, add red wine and stir for 2 minutes until the alcohol evaporates completely and cook for another 3 minutes, season with salt and pepper. set a side to cool
- 5
Lasagna assembly
take pasta dough out of the fridge and divide it to 3 portions, flatten each portion in the pasta machine or with a rolling pin to a thin leaf. place pasta layer on the bottom of a 36x34 centimeters baking pan (15 x 10 x 1-inch baking pan). spread a thin layer of tomato sauce and on top of the pan and spread the meat mixture. add another layer of pasta and spread over it the ricotta Pecorino paste, toss basil leaves on top and cover with another layer of tomato sauce. add another layer of pasta and tomato sauce
- 6
Make the Bechamel Sauce· 10 minutes
set a small sauce pan with milk and bring to a warm temperature (do not let it simmer) set a medium sauce pan on medium-high heat add butter, when melted add the flour and mix until it forms a thick roux, add the milk and stir constantly until the roux incorporated completely with the milk, keep stirring a few more minutes until the sauce thickens. remove from heat and add the nutmeg, salt and Parmesan, mix all ingredients until the sauce is smooth and runny. pour on the lasagna immoderately.
- 7
baking and serving· 40-45 minutes
preheat the oven to 200c/400F. put lasagna in the oven and bake for about 40 minutes until its golden. take out of the oven and let cool for at least 30 minutes and serve.
Jaron Kimhi
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
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