Ingredients for 6-8 people (for a 28 x 35 cm rectangular oven dish):600 g minced beef (only minced once if you prefer a “chunkier” ragu)3-4 fresh sausages (approx. 300 g)1 carrot1 stalk of celery1 onion1 sprig parsley1½ jars peeled tomatoes (500 g each)1 bottle freshly squeezed tomato juice with basil (375 ml) o tomato passata1 glass red wine12 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil salt pepper1½ packets lasagne containing 250 g each (used either precooked or “raw”, as you prefer, see note),
or fresh lasagne
100 g grated pecorino cheese100 g butter1 l milk100 g plain Flour1 tsp powdered nutmeg salt
First prepare the vegetables for the ragu: wash, clean and finely chop the celery, carrot, onion and parsley leaves. Sauté them in a pan with the olive oil, over a low heat, for about 15 minutes, stirring frequently to make sure they don’t stick to the bottom. In the meanwhile, remove the skin from the sausages, squash them and mix well with the minced beef. Add to the pan with the vegetables, which should now be golden brown (not burnt!!), turn up the heat and stir well. Season with salt and pepper, stir again and then lower the heat. The ragu must cook slowly for a long time, over a moderate heat; always keep an eye on it and stir from time to time. Now prepare the béchamel: melt the butter in a small (heavy-bottomed) saucepan over a very low heat. As soon as it has melted, add the flour and stir for 2-3 minutes with a wooden spoon, without letting the mixture brown. Bring the milk to the boil and pour a little into the saucepan with the flour and butter while still boiling; mix thoroughly and then gradually add the rest, stirring constantly. Cook for approximately 10 minutes, over a very low heat, taking care that the sauce doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan. Turn the heat off and season with salt and nutmeg. Put the béchamel to one side and, to avoid a “skin” forming on top, cover the surface with cling film. Check and stir the ragu frequently and when it’s been cooking for about 40 minutes, turn up the heat and pour in the wine. When it has evaporated, tip in the tomatoes and tomato juice, stir, taste and add salt if necessary; then leave to simmer over a very low heat for about another hour. Don’t lose heart, you’ve almost finished! Tip half of the grated pecorino into the béchamel sauce and stir well. Distribute a layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking pan, add a layer of ragu and cover with the first layer of lasagne (this time we precooked them), arranging the sheets one beside the other and filling all the gaps. Pour more béchamel on top, then add ragu and sprinkle with a spoonful of grated pecorino; cover with a second layer of lasagna sheets, and continue in the same way until you have finished the ingredients. Finish off with a layer of ragu and the remaining grated pecorino. Bake in the oven, at 180 °C, for roughly 25-30 minutes. The lasagne will be ready when a nice golden “crust” has formed on the surface. Remove from the oven and leave to cool a little before serving…
Note: dried lasagne sheets can be cooked in two different ways. The first is by using them “raw”: you spread a layer of sauce in the bottom of the baking pan, then a layer of béchamel, 4 lasagna sheets (o however many fit) and a sprinkling of cheese, then you continue until all the ingredients are finished (the béchamel and/or other sauce must be more liquid). The pan goes in a preheated oven, at 180 °C, for roughly 30-40 minutes. The second way is the more traditional one: you cook the lasagna sheets in boiling water for 8-10 minutes (one or two at a time), strain them with a slotted spoon, cool them from a few seconds in a bowl of cold water, lay them out on a clean cloth to dry them a little, and then proceed with the “layers” as described above. In this case 20-25 minutes in the oven are sufficient, and the béchamel and/or other sauce will be thicker.