For many people lasagne means mince in tomato sauce, grated cheese and ready-made sheets from a packet. That makes a decent baked pasta dish, but it is not the dish Bologna itself counts as lasagne. The difference is worth knowing, because it explains why home-made lasagne so often turns out watery in the middle and dry at the edges.
The point most recipes skip
The original from Bologna is called lasagne verdi alla bolognese. The pasta is green, that is egg pasta with spinach in the dough, and the layers are bound by besciamella, a white sauce of butter, flour and milk. Ricotta is not in it. That variant belongs to southern Italy and to the Italian-American kitchen, and it behaves differently in the dish: ricotta releases liquid when it is heated, besciamella binds it.
The ragù also contains less tomato than many people think. It is built on finely chopped onion, carrot and celery, meat browned properly, a little white wine, a splash of milk and only a dash of tomato. Garlic does not belong in a Bolognese ragù. The milk is the move that does the most: it softens the meat while the sauce reduces.
Ragù, left alone
Brown the meat in olive oil in several batches, so that it fries rather than boils. Add a soffritto of onion, carrot and celery and let it soften completely. Pour in white wine and reduce it, then the milk, then chopped tomatoes or passata. After that only time remains: an hour and a half to three hours over a low heat, uncovered towards the end, until the sauce is thick and dark. Salt and pepper last.
Besciamella
Melt the butter, stir in the same weight of flour and let the mixture bubble for half a minute without taking on colour. Add the milk a little at a time while whisking. Cook for two to three minutes until it thickens, and grate nutmeg from the spice shelf over it. The sauce should be thinner than you think, roughly like cream. If it sets too firm, it dries the sheets out instead of moistening them.
How to build the layers
Start with a thin layer of ragù in the bottom, so the sheets do not stick and burn. Then sheets, ragù, besciamella, grated cheese. Repeat. Five to six layers is enough. The last layer should be besciamella and cheese, not ragù, because ragù on top dries out and turns hard. Make sure the pasta is covered all the way out to the edges. A dry sheet edge ends up as crisp as a cracker.
Baking and resting
190 degrees for 35 to 45 minutes, until the top is golden and it is bubbling at the edges. Then comes the move almost everyone skips: leave the dish for 20 minutes before you cut it. The layers need to settle. Cut it straight away and it runs out across the plate.
The rest of the range is under Italy. If you want a pasta dish with fewer stages, carbonara is the place to start, and pesto genovese shows how far a mortar takes you.
Frequently asked questions
In what order should lasagne be layered?
A little sauce in the bottom, then sheets, ragù, besciamella and cheese. Always finish with besciamella and cheese on top, never with ragù.
Can you make lasagne the day before?
Yes, and it is often better for it. Build it completely, cover it and keep it cold. Allow an extra 15 minutes in the oven when it goes in straight from the fridge.
Do the sheets need pre-cooking?
No, as long as they are covered by sauce. Dry sheets draw liquid from the besciamella, so slightly too much sauce is better than slightly too little.
What can you serve with lasagne?
A simple green salad with olive oil and vinegar, and ideally focaccia to mop out the dish with.
