Lasagne

Lasagne Bolognese

Too depressed to write after the terrible Lakers loss last night, I decided to sit down and read instead.

After a fun-filled weekend of birthday parties (3), I came home from the 3rd party looked in the fridge and decided to make a lasagne with the leftover Bolognese. This recipe is basically from The Silver Spoon cookbook, although I've doubled it and adapted it to use Barilla Flat No-Boil Pasta Sheets "Product of Italy".

This is the kind that uses a bechamel...1 stick of butter melted in a pot whisk in a 1/2 C flour and stir until it bubbles and cooks about 1 minute. Add in all at once 3 C of milk and 2 C of cream and/or half n' half...Whisk well...Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and continue to cook until thickened. Add in a pinch of nutmeg (I grate fresh using a microplane), salt & pepper to taste.

Heat the bolognese, thin with a 1/4 C of wine. Butter a 9 x 13 pyrex...Then begin layering - on the bottom first begin with a thin layer of bolognese, add three pasta sheets, thin layer of bolognese, cover with bechamel, sprinkle with grated parmigiano reggiano (recipe calls for dotting with butter, but I think that's overkill), cover with pasta sheets and do it all over again...Total four layers of pasta - use the remaining bolognese in between the 3rd & 4th layer, as the 4th layer will be covered with the remaining bechamel. Place in a 400F oven for about 4o minutes or until brown and bubble on top. Let rest for 20 minutes before cutting. I served with an arugula salad and bowls of cherries and blueberries.