This summer my hubby was working in Mobile with the oil spill, so I had a LOT of time to watch TV and try new recipes while he was away. I got a little addicted to a show on TLC called Inedible to Incredible featuring a chef from New Orleans, Chef John Besh. I'm not sure why it disappeared from the line up, but before it went away I got one VERY good recipe off of the show.
I don't know about you, but I find fancy cookbooks extremely intimidating. If the recipe is more than one page or the name is more than 3 words long, I tend to stay away. This show was about taking people's everyday recipes (most of which they thought were great, but everyone in their family secretly hated), and spicing it up. This lasagne was my absolute favorite find! It takes a long time (the bolognese sauce takes about 3 hours to cook down), but it is WELL worth it. Perfect for a Sunday night when you have a little extra time!
Lasagne Bolognese with Bechamel Sauce (by John Besh, with a few of my changes)
Ingredients:
Bolognese Sauce
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
¾ cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped carrot
1 ¼ pound ground serloin
salt
pepper
1 ½ cups dry white wine
2 ½ canned imported Italian Plum Tomatoes, cut with their juices (I use 2 of the big cans of Cento)
Bechamel Sauce
3 cups milk
6 Tablespoon flour
½ Teaspoon salt
pinch of nutmeg, ground
½ stick of butter
Lasagne Noodles
1 pound fresh lasagna noodles
3 Tablespoons olive oil
½ cup fresh grated parmesan cheese
Lasagne Bolognese
1. Put the oil, butter, and chopped onion in a pot, and turn the heat on to medium.
2. And the onion. Cook and stir until the onion has become translucent, then add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about two minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them.
3. Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt, and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the meat with a fork, stir well, and cook until the beef has lost it’s raw, red color.
4. Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated (this takes about 10-20 minutes), then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all the ingredients well.
5. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time.
Bechamel Sauce
1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk in flour. Cook for 2 minutes, whisking constantly to avoid burning the flour.
2. Pour in the milk, continue to whisk constantly until it begins to boil.
3. Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg. Lower the heat, cover and simmer gently for 20 minutes.
Lasagna Noodles
1. Cook the fresh lasagna noodles in boiling salted water for 3 minutes and strain.
if you’re using dried lasagna noodles then make sure the cook for 11 minutes in salted boiling water before using and then proceed in the same fashion as stated above.
Layering
1. Toss the noodles with olive oil and begin layering a small casserole dish by placing on the bottom of the dish one noodle, then evenly spread a layer of the bolegnese sauce and over that spread a layer of béchamel sauce, then another layer of pasta and repeat this procedure until you’ve used all of the pasta and both sauces, creating a layered effect of both the pasta and the sauces. Once the top layer of béchamel sauce is spread over the top, spring over it a fine layer of grated fresh parmesan cheese.
(I also layer parmesan cheese into the lasagna as well)
2. Bake for 40-50 minutes at 400 degrees or until the top layer of cheese is golden brown.
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| Layering sauces, adding cheese, and putting it in the oven. Wine while making it is a must! |
My goodness, this recipe is good. You have to try it if you like Italian food! Sometimes I think I have to be part Italian. Not because I act like any of the cast members of Jersey Shore. My goodness they would think I was an actual ghost if they met me. I think I might be Italian because I could seriously eat Italian food every day of the week!
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| My hubby claims this is his favorite of everything I know how to make! |
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| Buster was not as excited... |
Here's the actual recipe link: http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/lasagna-bolognese-recipe.htm
This looks DIVINE! I'm going to have to try it! Thanks for sharing! I love hearing which recipes people love....SO much better than having to look through cook books!
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