My mother was the queen of lasagne. Hers was such a generous dish - layers of rich, saucy beef bolognese and fork-tender pasta topped with creamy white sauce and finished with just enough tasty cheese to produce a golden crust. The dish that emerged bubbling from her oven was one of the most inviting things you could ever put on a table. Everyone always went back for seconds.
It wasn't until I failed to follow my mother's recipe and made a version so dry the pasta failed to soften, that I realised that the ragu needs to be quite wet and sloppy. But it's a balance. A good lasagne should be possible to divide into neat, straight-edged portions, yet still be delicate and moist, giving way to the cut of a fork. No falling apart in a puddle of sauce. The trick here is not to put too much sauce between the layers of pasta. As is often the case with Italian pasta dishes: more pasta, less sauce.
The Accademia Italiana della Cucina (an organisation dedicated to preserving Italy's culinary heritage) has codified lasagne as a classic of Bolognese cuisine and defines it as a spinach and egg pasta layered with ragu and bechamel. Purists demand that the ragu is cooked for a minimum of two hours and that no garlic and herbs are used (apart from a touch of nutmeg in the bechamel). Canned tomatoes are eschewed in favour of a little tomato puree. Traditionally the liquid element comes from a touch of meat broth, wine or milk (Marcella Hazan's recipe for ragu is exceptionally delicious and is made with pork and beef mince that are simmered in milk until it evaporates, then wine and a little tomato are added). The top layer, they say, should always be bechamel sauce with a sprinkling of Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.
However, there are as many different ways of preparing lasagne as there are cooks who like to make it. Across Italy, you'll find lentils, mushrooms, spinach and pumpkin as ragu ingredients. In Liguria, the heart of basil country, lasagne Genovese substitutes ragu for basil pesto mixed with bechamel. In le Marche, they make it with sliced truffles, and in Molise, lasagne is served in a broth. Vegan varieties are made with almond milk for the white sauce, with the addition of nutritional yeast providing a savoury flavour-boost.
Because it's such a family dish, chances are your lasagne of choice is the one your mother used to make. My mother used tomato paste to render her ragu creamy and unctuous, then just put the white sauce on top, so that's how I like it. However you choose to make lasagne, there's little that can touch it for soothing, indulgent comfort. A green salad tossed with a mustardy vinaigrette dressing makes the perfect partner.
Family beef lasagne
This is the recipe I always make for big family gatherings. The anchovies give the ragu a wonderful layered richness without being in any way "fishy". Make in two dishes or one very large one.
Ready in 2 hours
Serves 10-12
BOLOGNESE SAUCE
1 large onion
2 stalks celery
1 large carrot
3 cloves garlic
¼ cup olive oil or butter
100g tomato paste
5 anchovies, optional
1kg beef mince
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1 cup red wine
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 pinch ground cloves
WHITE SAUCE
4½ cups milk
3 bay leaves
2 whole cloves
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
100g butter
100g flour
TO ASSEMBLE
400g dried instant lasagne sheets, preferably an Italian brand such as Rummo
1 cup grated mozzarella (not fresh)
½ cup grated parmesan
Very finely chop the vegetables or roughly chop, place in a food processor and blend until very finely chopped, almost to a puree.
Heat oil or butter in a medium heavy-based pot or deep frying pan. Add vegetables and cook over a medium heat until soft but not brown (about 8 minutes). Make a space in the bottom of the pan and drop in tomato paste and anchovies, if using, and cook, stirring for another minute until aromatic. Add beef, season with salt and pepper and stir over heat, using the back of the spoon to break up beef into a fine crumb, cooking until no longer pink.
Add tomatoes, wine, nutmeg and cloves, stir and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to lowest level and cook uncovered, stirring now and then, for 40 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste. Cooked bolognese sauce can be chilled and stored in the fridge for up to 4 days or frozen.
While the meat sauce is cooking, prepare the white sauce. Heat milk in a saucepan or microwave bowl with bay leaves.
Melt butter in a 3-4 litre pot. Add flour and stir over medium heat for 1 minute, so that flour is lightly toasted. Discard bay leaves from hot milk. Add about half the hot milk to the butter and flour mixture, stirring continuously. As the sauce starts to thicken, add rest of milk and carry on stirring until sauce is smooth and thick (if it goes lumpy whizz it with a hand blender or electric beater). Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg and allow to simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't catch on the bottom. If not using at once, transfer to a bowl, cut a piece of baking paper to sit directly in contact with the top of the sauce so it doesn't form a skin, and chill. It will keep for 2-3 days in the fridge. (Reheat with a little extra milk to loosen if using chilled.)
To assemble and cook lasagne, pre-heat oven to 180C fan bake. Spread 1 cup of the white sauce thinly over the base of a deep 20-cup capacity oven dish (mine is 32cm x 22cm. If you don't have one big enough, you can use two 10-cup deep-sided dishes).
Cover with a layer of lasagne sheets, breaking them to fit as needed to fully cover the dish. Spread a fifth (about 2 cups) of the bolognese sauce thinly over pasta (it's just a thin layer and gives the lasagne the right balance). Repeat layers of pasta and sauce, finishing with a layer of pasta (you should have 5 layers of sauce and 6 layers of pasta).
Spread the white sauce in a thick layer evenly over the top. Combine the cheeses and sprinkle over the top.
Lasagne can be assembled to this point and covered and chilled for up to 24 hours before final cooking. Bring back to room temperature on the bench for an hour before cooking.
Loosely cover with tin foil and bake for 45 minutes then uncover and bake for a further 15-20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through.
Accompany with a crisp green salad dressed with tangy vinaigrette.
Cooked lasagne will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days and reheats well. It can also be portioned and frozen. Thaw before reheating.
Mushroom and pumpkin lasagne
This fabulous vegetarian lasagne will woo even the meat-eaters in the crowd. It can be assembled a day ahead and chilled until ready to bake. If you're cooking for fewer people, make it in two smaller dishes and freeze the spare cooked one for an easy reheat meal later. If cooking for hard-core vegetarians, look for sour cream or creme fraiche without gelatine.
Ready in 1½ hours
Serves 8-10
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, finely chopped
125g butter
750g flat or brown mushrooms, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
¾ cup flour
2 bay leaves
7 cups milk
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp fine white pepper
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
Zest of 2 lemons, finely grated
½ cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, plus extra to garnish
1 cup grated parmesan or pecorino
400g dried lasagne sheets
¼ large grey pumpkin, peeled, deseeded and coarsely grated*
2 Tbsp thyme leaves
1 cup sour cream or creme fraiche
1 cup grated mozzarella
Heat oil in a large, deep pot and cook onions over medium heat until soft and just starting to brown (about 8 minutes). Add butter, mushrooms and garlic and cook over medium heat until all liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are starting to brown (about 10 minutes).
Stir in flour then add the bay leaves, milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir over medium heat until thickened. Remove and discard bay leaves, then stir in lemon zest, parsley and ¼ cup of the parmesan or pecorino. Preheat oven to 180C fan bake.
Spread 1½ cups of the mushroom sauce thinly in the base of a deep 16-cup capacity oven dish. Place a layer of lasagne sheets over the top, breaking up as needed to fit the dish neatly. Cover with a third of the remaining mushroom sauce, then half the grated pumpkin. Sprinkle with half the thyme.
Repeat layers once more – another layer of lasagne sheets, another third of the mushroom sauce and the remaining half of the pumpkin and thyme. Arrange a final third layer of lasagne sheets on top.
Mix the remaining third of the mushroom sauce with the sour cream or creme fraiche and spread over the lasagne sheets, then sprinkle with the remaining ¾ cup parmesan or pecorino and the mozzarella. Bake until bubbling and golden (about 40 minutes).
Garnish with extra parsley and serve immediately.
*If you don't want to grate the pumpkin, cover and microwave until soft and then mash.
Cheat's lasagne with ricotta and chorizo
This is more of a pasta bake than any kind of classic lasagne but is one of those great recipes you can assemble in the morning, ready to throw in the oven when you get home from work.
Ready in 45 mins
Serves 6
500g dried pasta shapes
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, halved then thinly sliced
120g chorizo sausage, finely chopped
2 tsp coarsely chopped rosemary leaves
1½ tsp smoked paprika
1 pinch of chilli flakes
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp tomato paste
2 x 400g cans cherry tomatoes
1 cup water
400g beef mince
1½ tsp salt
Ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup ricotta
2 cups grated mozzarella
Baby spinach (to serve, optional)
Cook pasta in a pot of salted boiling water, according to packet instructions.
While the pasta is cooking, heat oil in a heavy-based frying pan or pot and fry onion over medium heat, stirring frequently, until well browned (10 minutes).
Add chorizo, rosemary, paprika and chilli flakes and cook to release the fat in the chorizo (1-2 minutes) Add garlic and tomato paste and cook another minute stirring over heat.
Add tomatoes and their juices, water and tomato paste, then mix in the beef, breaking it up with a wooden spoon into the sauce so it doesn't clump. Add salt and pepper, bring to a simmer for 5 minutes.
Drain pasta and mix through half the sauce. Transfer to a 6-8-cup capacity oven dish, top with the remaining sauce, dot with heaped tablespoons of ricotta and finish with mozzarella.
The dish can be prepared to this point in advance and chilled or frozen until ready to finish baking. Bring back to room temperature before cooking or add an extra 10 minutes to cooking time.
When ready to cook, pre-heat oven to 180C fan bake and bake until bubbling and golden (20-25 minutes). Serve with baby spinach, if desired.
Match these with ...
by Yvonne Lorkin
(Family beef lasagne)
St Huberts The Stag Victoria Tempranillo Shiraz 2020 ($20)
I'm pretty sure that if I kicked the bucket under shady circumstances, the autopsy would reveal 60 per cent of my internal organs are literally just lasagne. Such is my predilection for this pastafarian family favourite. There's also nothing better than a hearty, knee-wobblingly rib-sticking red like this spice-soaked, dark plum and blackcurrant-stacked example from the cooler climes of Victoria to pair with it. Ripe, velvety-smooth and saucy, it loves lasagne.
Available in supermarkets
(Mushroom and pumpkin lasagne)
The Black Grape Society Central Otago Pinot Noir 2019 ($29)
Six months in older oak barrels has given this pinot noir a gentle, smoky tone that wraps around a soft, savoury, mushroomy mid-palate and a backbone of bright berries, wild cherries and a bunch of bouquet garni herbs. A lick of pepper and gamey notes gird the layers of flavour in this light, lithe, pinot noir and weave themselves around this rich, mushroomy, spice-dusted style.
Exclusively at countdown.co.nz
(Lasagne with ricotta and chorizo)
Riporta Small Batch Puglia IGP Primitivo 2019 ($21)
Primitivo is also known as "zinfandel" and, with a total palate saturation of saddle leather, gamey notes and hints of homemade gravy, this champion is smooth, velvety, and seriously savoury. It also boasts a hefty bucket of fruity sweetness, masses of woolly tannins, and fuzzy, silky, beautifully balanced textures to boot. Which is an interesting turn of phrase, because it's also from Puglia, the heel of Italy's "boot". It's a very tasty example that should be shared widely over acres of this spicy, tomato-y, ricotta-y lasagne.
touchofitaly.co.nz