Description
This melty, cheesy, saucy, beefy lasagna al ragù uses whole sheets of golden fresh egg pasta layered with tomato and beef white wine sauce, creamy porcini béchamel, grated Grana Padano, and mozzarella cheese. It's full of flavor and it's much quicker than making authentic Lasagna Bolognese. As always, I've included step-by-step recipe photos at the end of the post.
Ingredients
For the Tomato & Beef White Wine Sauce
- 24 ounces tomato passata (700g) (sub finely chopped tomatoes)
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (30g)
- 1 small onion (3 5/8 ounces) (100g)
- 2 garlic cloves, smashed
- 1 pound ground beef (450g)
- 3 1/2 ounces dry white wine (like Pecorino, Pinot Grigio, or Sauvignon) (100g)
- 1 cup whole milk (235g)
- 2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter (35g)
- 4 tablespoons flour (35g)
- 2 cups milk (490g)
- 2 dried porcini mushrooms, or more to taste (0.75g)
- 1/4 of a small onion
- freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (2.5g)
- 1 pound egg pasta lasagna sheets, fresh or dried (500g)
- 3 1/2 cups grated mozzarella cheese (400g)
- 1 cup grated Grana Padano cheese (100g) (sub Parmigiano-Reggiano or Parmesan cheese)
Instructions
- Make the pasta sauce. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pressure cooker (or Instapot, or Bimby) over medium heat, add the smashed garlic and onions and cook until onions are tender and translucent (about 5 minutes). Add the ground beef and cook through (about 5 minutes more). Add the white wine and cook stirring periodically until the liquid is absorbed and the pot sizzles (about 10 minutes). Add the tomato passata and milk, and season with salt to taste. Close the pressure cooker and bring it to high pressure. As soon as high pressure is reached, set a timer for 25 minutes, and reduce the flame to its lowest setting while still maintaining high pressure. After 25 minutes, turn the heat off and allow for a natural release. *If using a regular sauce pot to cook the sauce, see recipe notes for time and technique.
- Infuse the milk for the béchamel sauce. While your tomato sauce is cooking, add the milk, onion, and dried porcini mushrooms to a small pot and heat the mixture over medium heat until scalding, but not boiling. Turn off the heat and season the mixture with salt and freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Allow the mixture to steep for at least 20 minutes. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer and heat it back up so it’s nice and hot. *If desired, infuse the milk with the mushrooms and onion up to overnight, strain it, and reheat the mixture just before making the béchamel sauce or use an immersion blender to purée the mixture for an even deeper flavor.
- Make the porcini béchamel sauce. Melt the butter in a sauce pot over medium-high heat. Add the flour a little at a time while simultaneously whisking constantly to incorporate it into the butter and to remove any lumps. Continue whisking the roux (flour-butter mixture) constantly over medium heat until fragrant, slightly darker in color, and the raw flour is cooked (about 4 minutes). Pour in the hot milk mixture in a steady stream while whisking vigorously to avoid and/or remove any lumps. Continue whisking and cooking over medium-high heat until the sauce coats the back of a spoon (about 3 minutes). The sauce will continue to thicken slightly after it’s removed from the heat. Adjust seasonings adding more salt or nutmeg if needed and cover the sauce with a piece of parchment paper or sustainable plastic wrap until ready to assemble the lasagna. This will prevent it from forming a “skin”.
- Assemble the lasagna. Add a ladle full of ragù to the lasagna baking dish and spread it out evenly. Top the sauce with sheets of slightly overlapping lasagna noodles. Add a little more sauce, spread it out, and sprinkle the top with Grana Padano and mozzarella cheese. Add another layer of lasagna noodles, a little more tomato sauce, and top it with a thin layer of béchamel sauce. Add another layer of lasagna noodles, then tomato sauce, Grana Padano, and mozzarella cheese. Continue repeating these layers ending with the last layer of lasagna noodles, tomato sauce, Grana Padano, and mozzarella cheese.
- Bake the lasagna. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake the lasagna in a preheated 375°F/190°C oven for 45 minutes, remove the foil and continue baking for 10 minutes longer if needed until it's hot and bubbling and the cheese is golden brown. During the last 5 minutes or so of baking time, you may turn the broiler function on to get brown the mozzarella cheese. Allow the lasagna to rest for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Notes
If using a regular sauce pot to make the sauce, once you add the tomatoes, bring everything up to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Add the milk and cook another 45 minutes, or until well incorporated into the sauce. Be sure to stir the sauce occasionally and keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't reduce too much.
I end up with just about 1/2 cup of the porcini béchamel leftover that I don't use in the lasagna. You can use it all if you want, reserve it for another use, or even freeze it for up to 3 months.
See the main post for storage and reheating instructions.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Pasta
- Method: Oven Baked
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
- Calories: 690
- Sugar: 9g
- Sodium: 580mg
- Fat: 36g
- Saturated Fat: 20g
- Unsaturated Fat: 16g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 49g
- Fiber: 2.4g
- Protein: 36g
- Cholesterol: 140mg
