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Lasagna all'Emiliana

Source of Recipe

Chef Massimiliano Bartoli, Miss Williamsburg Restaurant


Recipe Introduction

featured on food tv network show Tyler's Ultimate

List of Ingredients

Fresh Lasagna, recipe follows
Kosher salt
Bechamel Sauce, recipe follows
Ragu, recipe follows
3 cups freshly grated Parmesan


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Cook the pasta, boiling salted water until just tender, drain and refresh in ice water. Put a thin layer of bechamel in the bottom of a shallow baking dish or a jelly-roll pan. Cover the bechamel with a thin layer of ragu and a little cheese. Top the sauces and cheese with a layer of lasagna noodles. Repeat 6 times ending with a layer of bechamel, ragu and cheese. Bake the lasagne until it is warm at the center and the cheese topping golden brown, about 45 minutes (cover with some aluminum foil if the lasagna browns before it is fully heated).


Bechamel Sauce:
3 ounces butter
3 ounces all-purpose flour
1 quart milk
Freshly ground nutmeg
Kosher salt

In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Whisk in the flour and cook until the mixture is creamy and no longer smells floury. Set the flour mixture (a roux) aside and rinse the pan.

Place the milk in the saucepan, add the grated nutmeg and bring to boil over medium-high.
Whisk the flour mixture into the milk. Whisk constantly as the sauce returns to a boil and simmer until the sauce thickens sufficiently to coat the back of a spoon. Season the bechamel with salt and reserve it in a water bath until ready to use.


Ragu:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 tablespoons finely chopped onions
6 tablespoons finely chopped carrots
6 tablespoons finely chopped celery
1 pound ground veal
1 cup white wine
1 pound canned or fresh tomatoes (pureed and passed through a strainer)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium in a large pot. Add the onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the veal and brown, breaking up any big chunks of meat. Add the wine, increase the heat and simmer until the pan is once again dry, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and enough water to cover. Bring the sauce to a simmer then reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is deeply flavored and no longer watery, about 4 hours. Season the ragu with salt and pepper and keep warm or refrigerate until ready to use.


Fresh Lasagne:
5 eggs
1 pound high gluten flour (recommended: 00 flour)
Pinch salt
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Mix the eggs, salt, and olive oil with 2 tablespoons of water in a mixer using the paddle attachment. Add the flour and mix until the dough comes together then knead the dough using the dough hook until it is smooth and elastic. (Alternatively combine the flour with the salt and mound in a large bowl or on a clean work surface. Make a well in the center of the flour mound. Combine the wet ingredients in the well then gradually incorporate the flour. When the dough comes together, knead it until it is smooth and elastic.)

Divide the dough in thirds. Roll each sheet of dough through the machine starting at the widest setting then graduating to thinner settings and stopping when the sheets of dough are a medium thickness. Place the sheets of pasta on a lightly floured surface and set aside until ready to use.