# Lasagna al Forno



## clove48 (Jun 23, 2012)

I did a dinner party this weekend for a couple that insisted on Lasagna.
I told them that this was not the season for a baked pasta dish, suggested boiled noddle Napoleton-style preparation.
"NO! I want the Lasagna I had in Emilia-Romagna!"
"OK, You're the boss."

So here's what I did.

I made spinach pasta sheets, nice and thin.
Made a classic 3 hour Ragu Bolognese and a classic Besciamela (posted below).

Assembly:

Light layer of ragu on th bottom of the lasagna pan.
Cover with a layer of noodles, side to side - corner to corner.
Add another layer of ragu and a layer of besciamela and a nice grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Repeated 4 times
Topped the last layer with the besciamela and another grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano
Baked for 40 minutes at 375 F until it was bubbling and the top was golden brown.
Let it rest for 15 minutes
Cut and serve.
Very successful but way out of season

Besciamela:








Ingredients:
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour







3 cups whole milk







2 teaspoons salt







1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
















Method








Heat milk in separate pan until just ready to boil.








In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.








Add flour and stir until smooth.








Cook over medium heat until light golden brown, about 4 to 6 minutes.








Add the milk to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, continuously whisking until it very smooth and brought to a boil.
Cook 8 minutes over medium heat
Remove from heat.
It should be a thicker than cream liquid
Season with salt and nutmeg and set aside to cool

/ message sig

__________________
Chuck Love


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

You didn't post your ragu recipe though


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## clove48 (Jun 23, 2012)

Koukouvagia

Here's one of many versions of a "classic" Ragu Bolognese.

Please understand that there are as many "authentic" versions of this recipe as there are home cooks in Bologna.

Some will say "never any garlic", others will say "What! no chicken liver?" or "only tomato paste, never canned tomatoes"

Ingredients

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 
4 tablespoons butter 
2 medium onions, finely chopped 
3 stalks celery, finely chopped 
1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped 
4 cloves garlic, sliced 
1 pound veal shoulder, ground 
1 pound pork shoulder, ground
1/2 pound beef chuck, , ground 
1/4 pound pancetta, ground 
1 (16-ounce) can whole peeled San Marzano (DOP) tomatoes, crushed by hand, with the juices 
1/2 cup whole milk 
1 cup dry white wine 
2 cups brown chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
Method:

In a 6 to 8-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat olive oil and butter over medium heat. 

Add onion, celery, carrot and garlic and sweat over medium heat until vegetables are soft but not colored. 

Add the veal, pork, beef and pancetta and stir into vegetables. 

Raise the heat to High and brown, stirring to keep meat from sticking together. 

This should take 15 to 20 minutes. 

Add tomatoes with juice and simmer 15 minutes. 

Add the milk and simmer until reduced to near nothing, about 10 minutes. 

Add the wine and brown stock, bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer over for 2 to 2 1/2 hours. 

Taste and season with salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat. 

Sauce should be very dense and moist but not at all "soupy".

Yield: about 6 cups


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## sparkie (Feb 12, 2011)

Good stuff. That's pretty much how I do it, the ragu I make is a little different, but you explain that well, we don't need to go down that street.

I typically get about 14 layers in a 2" hotel pan and finish with a very vlight amount of shredded mozzarella on the top layer. 

Nice try suggesting something more appropriate to the season, most clients don't really think about that.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Sounds very good to me


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Clove,

I believe that you have an exemplary handle on Italian regional.

I would also like to try your Spinach home made pasta too ...

I am in agreement, it is a bit too hot for such a filling dish; however, I too love Lasagne.

Best regards.

Margaux


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## clove48 (Jun 23, 2012)

Here's a simple recipe for green pasta you can do at home

It uses frozen spinach so you can make it anytime of the year and dosn't loose much from the same recipe with fresh spinach.

*Spinach Pasta Dough - basic home version*

*Ingredients*

§ 1 package (10 ounces) frozen spinach

§ 4 Cups all-purpose flour

§ 4 large eggs

§ 1 Pinch of salt

*Method*

Completely defrost the spinach and dry thoroughly. This is a critical step, the dryer the spinach, the better the dough.

Finely chop the dry spinach or use a food processor to puree.

Put the eggs into a bowl and mix completely.

Add the spinach into the eggs and combine.

Add the salt to the flour and mix though

On a large surface or board, make a mound out of the flour and form a deep well in the center

Add the egg / spinach mixture to the well

Using a fork begin to pull small amounts of flour, from the inside of the well, into the egg mixture and mix into the eggs

Continue going around the well pulling in more flour and mixing

Push the outside of the well up and inward as needed to keep the mixture inside the well.

When a dough starts to form in the center start to hand-knead the wet mass, using some the remainder of the flour to dry out the dough

It will be sticky at first but it will dry out as you knead and incorporate more flour

When the extra flour mixture starts to show little dry flour bits, remove the dough ball and discard to unused flour.

Re-dust the board and lightly re-flour the ball and continue kneading, making sure to add flour until the dough is no longer sticky

After 10 minutes, or so, you will have a smooth dry dough ball

Wrap in plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes before rolling or shaping


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Clove
The member you have addressed is banned from the site!


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## palateexpress (May 31, 2017)

I have two questions maybe more I HOPE someone can help me with.  I am looking for a lasagna recipe that would feed 50 people and I would be able to use a hotel pan.  Would anyone be able to help me or share a recipe that would get me close to serving 50 people and what type of hotel pan would be best to use.


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## flipflopgirl (Jun 27, 2012)

There are many great threads re lasagna on the site...a simple search should find you the recipe but you will most likely have to do some math.

When I do a casserole (which this dish def is) I shoot for generous 6-7 oz pps depending on the time of day and what else will be on the menu.

Some guests will take more and some will take less....

One more thing...I see a lot of sloppy lasagnas (too much filling) that are impossible to portion and must be served with a spoon.

You don't have to use every last drop of the sauces just because they are there.

mimi


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## palateexpress (May 31, 2017)

Thank you flip flop and the math really is not an issue, I would like to find a good recipe, but my struggle really is I would like to use a hotel pan and I would like to know what would be a good pan to make lasagna in.  I agree with you that  some recipes are to wet,  I want to make squares not use a spoon.    So if I am looking to make lasagna for say 50ppl what pan would you use or what pan would you suggest?


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

4" hotel pan, three layers filled approximately half full. Cover with plastic wrap and foil, bake until heated through, uncover to brown. Let sit for a good half hour to set.


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## palateexpress (May 31, 2017)

Chef Buba,  thank you so much for the reply this give me the start I am looking for.  I am a home cook, I just started an LLC and I want to try and have some menu items for parties that I can offer and not have to guess at the last min.  How long have you been a chef?  I had hoped there was a cookbook or a recipe book that I could find that would give me good ideas of how to take the recipes I have and make them for catering events.


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