Lasagna With Bolognese Bechamel And Spinach Adapted From Mario Batali Recipes

Steps:

• Heat olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add pancetta; cook and stir until browned, about 8 minutes. Add celery, carrots, and onion; cook, stirring occasionally, until very soft, about 15 minutes. Stir in beef and pork. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until evenly browned, about 20 minutes.
• Pour white wine into the Dutch oven; cook until alcohol evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar. Bring to a simmer; reduce heat to low, cover and simmer Bolognese sauce, stirring occasionally and skimming fat off the surface, about 3 1/2 hours. Stir in beef broth, 1/4 cup at a time, if sauce looks dry.
• Stir heavy cream and 1/2 cup milk into the Bolognese sauce; mix well. Cover and cook over very low heat until flavors combine, about 30 minutes.
• Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour until a smooth paste forms; cook and stir until paste turns a golden sandy color, about 7 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium-high and slowly whisk 4 cups milk into the saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer; reduce heat to medium-low and add bay leaf. Continue simmering, stirring occasionally until bechamel sauce is thick and smooth, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and nutmeg; discard bay leaf.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13-inch baking dish with butter.
• Spread 1/4 cup bechamel sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Cover with 1 lasagna sheet; prick in several places with a paring knife. Spread 1/2 cup bechamel sauce and 1/2 cup Bolognese sauce on top. Sprinkle 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese on top.
• Repeat layers 7 times with remaining lasagna sheets, bechamel sauce, Bolognese sauce, and Parmesan cheese. Cover lasagna with aluminum foil and place on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Bake lasagna in the preheated oven until bubbly, about 25 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and continue baking until cheese is browned, about 20 minutes more. Let cool before serving, about 15 minutes.

Steps:

• To assemble the lasagna:.
• Divide the pasta dough into 3 portions. Roll each one out through the thinnest setting on a pasta machine and lay the sheets on a lightly floured work surface to dry for 10 minutes. cut the pasta into 10" x 5" strips and cover with a damp kitchen towel.
• Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot, and add 2 tablespoons salt. Set up an ice bath next to the stovetop, and add the oil. Cook the noodles, 6 to 7 at a time, in the boiling water until tender, about 1 minute. Transfer to the ice bath to cool, then lay out on clean kitchen towels to drain.
• Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Assemble the lasagna in a 10" x 20" lasagna pan (or use two 9" x 12" pans): spread 1/2 cup ragu over the bottom of the dish, then top with a layer of pasta, a layer of ricotta, a layer of polpette and sausage, and a layer of Parmigiano and mozzarella.
• Continue until you have at least 3 layers, finishing with cheese.
• Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until the edges are bubbling. Let rest for 15 minutes before serving.
• To make the pasta:.
• Mound the flour in the center of a large wooden board. Make a well in the center of the flour and add the eggs. Using a fork, beat the eggs together and then begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well.
• As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up to retain the well shape (don't worry if it looks messy). When half of the flour is incorporated, the dough will begin to come together. Start kneading the dough, using primarily the palms of your hands.
• Once the dough is a cohesive mass, set the dough aside and scrape up and discard any dried bits of dough.
• Lightly flour the board and continue kneading for 10 minutes, dusting the board with additional flour as necessary. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature before using.
• To make the ragu:.
• In a large Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat until smoking. Season the veal and beef with salt and pepper to taste, and sear, in batches to avoid overcrowding the pot, until dark golden brown. Transfer to a plate.
• Add the onion to the pot and sauté, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits, until golden brown and very soft, about 10 minutes. add the wine, browned meat chunks, tomatoes, sausages and red pepper flakes and bring just to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally and skimming off the fat as necessary, for 2 1/2 to 3 hours.
• Remove from the heat, remove the meat and sausages, and set aside. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.
• To make the polpette (meatballs):.
• In a shallow bowl, soak the bread cubes in water to cover for 20 minutes. drain the bread cubes and squeeze out the excess moisture.
• In a large bowl, combine the bread, beef, eggs, garlic, pecorino, parsley, pine nuts, salt and pepper and mix with your hands just until blended. With wet hands, form the mixture into 12 to 15 large meatballs.
• In a heavy-bottomed skillet, heat the olive oil over high heat until almost smoking. Add the meatballs, working in batches if necessary to avoid overcrowding the pan, and cook, turning occasionally, until deep golden brown on all sides, about 10 minutes per batch. Remove from the heat.
• .

Steps:

• Bechamel Sauce: (make just before you need it, not ahead of time) Put milk in a saucepan, turn heat to medium, and bring to the verge of a boil. While heating milk, put butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan and turn heat to low. When melted, add the flour and stir with a wooden spoon. Cook, while stirring constantly, for about 2 min. Do not allow flour to color. Remove from heat. Add the hot milk to the flour/butter mixture, no more than 2 Tb. at a time. Stir steadily and thoroughly. Once the first 2 Tb. have been incorporated, repeat this process 2 Tb. at a time until 1/2 c. has been incorporated. Then, you can begin adding milk 1/2 c. at a time until all incorporated. Place the pan over low heat, add salt, and cook, stirring constantly until sauce is like thickened (like the consistency of sour cream). When done, you can keep warm on top of a double boiler and remove film if one forms on top. Lasagna: Preheat oven to 400. Prepare lasagna noodles. Thickly smear the bottom of your lasagna pan with butter and 1 Tb. of bechamel. Line the bottom of pan with one layer of noodles. Combine the bolognese and bechamel sauces and spread a coating on the pasta. Sprinkle some grated Parmesan, then add another layer of noodles. Repeat the procedure of spreading sauce and Parmesan and noodles. Leave enough sauce to spread a thin layer on top at the end. Sprinkle with Parmesan and dot with butter. (This can be made up to 2 days in advance and refrigerated.) Bake on top rack until golden crust forms on top, about 10 or 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to settle for 10 min. before serving.

Steps:

• Melt butter in a heavy-bottom, medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add flour, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking occasionally, 2 to 3 minutes; do not let roux brown.
• Whisking constantly, add about 2 tablespoons hot milk to saucepan.
• Pour half of the remaining hot milk into the saucepan in small increments, whisking the mixture constantly, until a smooth paste forms.
• Whisk remaining milk into pan; add nutmeg and salt. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure to scrape bottom and sides, until sauce is thick and creamy, about 15 minutes; if any lumps form, stir sauce rapidly with a whisk. Season with pepper; remove from heat. Let sauce stand until lukewarm, about 30 minutes, before assembling lasagna.

Steps:

• Sauce: Heat the milk until very warm but do not bring to a boil.
• In another pan over medium heat, melt the butter.
• Do not let the butter brown.
• Whisk in flour and cook for 3 or 4 minutes, stirring constantly.
• Gradually add the hot milk.
• Continue to whisk until the sauce is thickened.
• add the freshly grated nutmeg if using.
• Sauté the garlic and onions in the butter or oil until the onions are translucent.
• Stir in the spinach and 1/2 cup of the parsley.
• Add a little water if the spinach is dry.
• Cook until the spinach wilts then remove it from the heat; set aside.
• Mix the remaining parsley, ricotta, eggs and 2/3 of the parmesan cheese together.
• You may cook the lasagna until al dente or don't cook them at all.
• Moosewood does not cook theirs, they just layer the raw noodles in the pan.
• Oil a large casserole or lasagna pan.
• Layer the ingredients as follows: 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sauce, 1/3 of the noodles, 1/2 of the spinach, all the mozzarella, 1 1/2 to 2 cups sauce, 1/3 of the noodles, all the ricotta mixture left, all of the spinach left, 1 1/2 to 2 cups of the sauce,the remaining noodles, the rest of the sauce, sprinkling the remaining parmesan cheese on top.
• Cover the casserole and bake at 350°F for 45 minutes.
• Uncover the casserole and bake for another 10 to 15 minutes.
• Remove the casserole from the oven and let it rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.