Winter is certainly the time to crave something more fortifying and decadent. I decided to try my hand at Bon Appetit’s current project; Lasagna Bolognese. Lasagna Bolognese is a northern Italian dish and is different from your American version laden with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses. It is a more delicate version flavored with a broth based vegetable meat sauce and a nutmeg flavored béchamel. This recipe uses an egg dough that is homemade and does not have rippled pasta sheets. In case you didn’t know, the ripples are made to hold the sauce better, however this recipe drinks up the pasta sauce so it doesn’t need rippling. This is my second time making homemade pasta in the last couple of weeks and it again confirms to me that there is absolutely no need to purchase pasta! It is so easy and quick to make and the taste difference is monumental. You don’t need a fancy electric machine or attachment as it is very simple using the hand crank version such as a Cucina Pro Pasta machine that you can purchase at Target for $22.49! Ok, so you’re not up to the task? Then go to your local Trader Joe’s or gourmet food retailer and you can purchase flat pasta sheets that you don’t even need to cook prior to baking.
This cooking project may seem daunting to you when you realize that it takes several hours to prep, however if you break up the steps into several days, it is easy to fit into pockets of time and the results are amazing! I promise you!! I did break the project into 4 time allotments. Day 1, I prepared the Bolognese sauce. The prep was simple using my food processor and the sauce is not difficult to make. It just requires several hours on the stove to cook down from a segregated group of ingredients into a sauce that is thick in texture and deep in flavor. Then off to the fridge for a couple of days to continue to meld.
Day 2 was for the preparation of the béchamel sauce and the pasta dough. The béchamel was also a simple process and takes no more than about 15 minutes to prepare. Cool and refrigerate with the Bolognese sauce. The pasta instruction on Bon Appetit is done in the traditional way of mixing the flour and salt by hand and adding the eggs in a well in the center, mixing in slowly until the dough forms. I opted for the easier route and threw it all in the food processor at once and mixed until everything was the same texture. Don’t be surprised as it does not combine into what looks like a dough at first. You need to turn it out onto a board and work it together with your hands to allow it all to adhere together into a ball. Then knead it by hand until it is smooth, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate with the rest of your ingredients.
Day 3, the final day, I assembled the lasagna in the morning. First I needed to run the pasta dough through my pasta maker and prepare the sheets to fit the size of my baking pan. Since you are making large pieces, it doesn’t take long as my sheets only required about 4 cuts each to create the right sizes. Then I had to cook the pasta briefly and layer it with paper towels to dry and keep from sticking to each other. While I was working on the pasta, I was slowly warming up the sauces on the stove and added the last cup of broth to the Bolognese sauce. I grated the parmesan in my food processor to ensure the freshest of ingredients, however you can easily purchase this already grated.
Now the assembly! All went smoothly and I even had several sheets of pasta leftover due to the fact that I ran out of meat sauce after 5 layers. Not a concern as the lasagna was certainly dense enough to be delicious! And an added benefit was having leftover pasta sheets to use for another day. I cut the sheets into slightly narrower than pappardelle and initially froze them on a cookie sheet, later to package in a freezer bag. I refrigerated the assembled lasagna and then baked it later in the day for dinner that night. I found that the instructions on the recipe needed to be altered on two accounts. I wanted a nice toasty top to my lasagna so I broiled it for a couple of minutes at the end of the baking cycle. I also did not need to let it sit for 45 minutes before eating. I think about half of that time is sufficient to keep the individual servings intact. I suggest you warm your serving plates so that they don’t cool the lasagna too quickly as pasta tends to cool very fast.
I served the lasagna with a simple caesar salad and a delicious bottle of wine from one of our local wineries, HammerSky Vineyards, Estate Grown “2009 Red Handed” blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon and Petite Verdot. All I can say is, I can’t wait to eat the leftovers!