Traditional lasagne bolognese
Instructions:
- This lasagne was designed for a deep-dish baking pan. You can use a standard 9 x13-inch baking pan, but you will have excess sauce; the sauce can be frozen and used over pasta another time. The lasagne can be assembled up to 1 day ahead and left to cool completely. Cover, unbaked, and refrigerate up to 1 day in advance, or freeze, unbaked, up to 3 weeks in advance. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator; bake as directed below.
- Bolognese Sauce
- 1 3-pound container ricotta cheese
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 cup (about 3 ounces) grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/ 2 teaspoons coarse salt
- 1/ 4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/ 4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 1-pound box uncooked lasagne noodles
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced into 1/ 4 -inch rounds
- Bring the sauce to room temperature. In a large bowl, whisk the ricotta, egg yolks, Parmesan, 11/ 2 teaspoons salt, black pepper, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper. Chill the filling until ready to assemble the lasagne.
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Butter an 11x14x 3-inch lasagne baking pan. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the olive oil and the remaining tablespoon salt. One at a time, add the lasagne noodles; cook until al dente, 2 to 3 minutes less than the manufacturer’s instructions. Remove the noodles with tongs; drain in a colander.
- Spread about 3 cups sauce on the bottom of the baking dish. Place a single layer of lasagne noodles over the sauce, overlapping them slightly. Spread about 2 cups sauce over the noodles and about half of the ricotta filling mixture over the sauce.
- Top with a layer of lasagne noodles, again slightly overlapping them. Repeat with more sauce and the remaining ricotta filling mixture. Top with a final layer of lasagne noodles. Spread a layer of sauce over the noodles, and finish with a layer of sliced mozzarella rounds.
- Bake until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted, at least 1 hour. Cover with aluminum foil if the cheese starts to brown too early. Let the lasagne stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
- SERVES 1 0 TO 1 2