Ingredients:
For the pasta sheets
500 grams all-purpose flour
4 eggs
A cutting board or clean counter top for working the dough
or
10 sheets of instant Lasagne and cook as per package instructions
For the Ragu
1 can of pureed tomatoes.
250 grams/1 can of crushed tomato
2 carrot, finely chopped
1 white onion, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, diced
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
500 grams ground beef
250 grams ground pork
300gm of chopped mushroom
½ glass of red wine
salt (to taste)
ground pepper (to taste)
1 tablespoon of oregano
1 tablespoon of basil
For the bechamel sauce
1 liter (1 quart) of milk
100 grams of butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon of Salt
1/4 teaspoon of ground pepper
Cheese
4 cups of shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 cups of shredded Parmesan Cheese
2 cups of ricotta Cheese
2 eggs
Directions:
1. Make your pasta sheets
Place almost all of the flour on your cutting board (reserve 50 grams or so, a little more than 1/3 a cup) – and make a hollow in the center of our little pile so it looks like a flour volcano.
Break the eggs into the “crater” of the volcano, and stir them with a fork so that the yolks and whites mix before you begin to incorporate them into your flour.
Start to incorporate the eggs and flour by slowly bringing more flour in from the inside edges of the “crater”. Continue mixing the flour with the eggs until the mixture comes together.
Knead everything together for 10 minutes pushing it down with the heel of your hand, turning, stretching, folding, then smashing it down again. Kneading is necessary to work the gluten in the dough and make it more elastic.
Wrap the prepared dough in plastic wrap, and put it aside – in a dry place – to let it rest for at least 30 minutes, or up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
After 30 minutes, sprinkle a little flour on your cutting board. Unwrap your dough, and push it down a little with the palm of the hand. At this point, you have two options: the rolling pin OR a pasta machine!
If you opt for the rolling pin, sprinkle just a little bit of flour on the dough and start rolling the pin back and forth using light pressure until it reaches a thickness of 0.5mm.
If you have a pasta-making machine, cut the dough into quarters or (eighths, depending on the size of the machine) then flatten a quarter of the dough and sprinkle it with flour before feeding it into the machine. Begin with the highest thickness option – i.e, the widest setting. When you have rolled out one strip, fold it in half and pass it through again. Continue by reducing the width of the rolling slot, until you reach a thickness of approximately 0.5mm. Also remember that every time you make the width of the rolling slot shorter, you have to pass the dough through it twice, folding it in half for the second pass.
2. Make your Ragu
Heat olive oil in a large pan or dutch oven, add onion, mushroom, celery and carrot and stir fry until the onion is translucent and set aside,
In a skillet, turn the heat to medium-high and add the ground beef and ground pork. When the meat has browned and the liquid it releases has evaporated, add garlic and continue to stir for another 3-4 minutes and then add the white wine and stir. When the wine has evaporated, add the tomatoes puree, onion, mushroom, celery, carrot, oregano, basil, salt and pepper into the meat and mix the ingredients and let them cook on a low heat for at least an 1 hour and set aside the ragu sauce,
3. Bechamel sauce
Warm milk in a sauce pan but don't let it boil.
In a separate saucepan, cube the butter and melt it over low heat. As soon as it has liquefied take it off the heat and gradually whisk in the flour, making sure that no lumps form.
Place the pan with the butter and flour mixture back on a low heat and add your warm milk, salt, nutmeg and ground pepper. Stir rapidly with the whisk until it thickens and becomes smooth.
4. Cheese mix
Beat 2 eggs in a large bowl, add Mozzarella Cheese, Parmesan Cheese, ricotta Cheese plus salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
5. Time to put your lasagna layers together
Pour a fine layer of bechamel sauce on the bottom of your casserole dish.
Cover it with a layer of ragu sauce and a thin layer of cheese mix
Place your pasta rectangles side-by-side on top of the ragu until you have covered it completely. Don’t allow them to overlap too much – you don’t want any double layers of pasta.
Repeat the process in the same order as above until you reach 5 or 6 layers of pasta. On the very last layer of pasta place a slightly thicker layer of bechamel and ragu as it is the layer most exposed to the hot air of the oven and tends to dry up a little. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top if you like, but this is not a requirement.
6. Bake
Place the casserole in a pre-heated oven at 200° Celcius (390 Fahrenheit) and bake for about 25 mins. You will know the lasagna is ready when you can see a golden crust around the outside edges on the top layer.
Let your lasagna rest for a couple of minutes before cutting and serving.