Lasagne à la Bolognaise/ Lasagna alla Bolognese and an award

Like Garfield, my son is fond of the ?Lasagne à la Bolognaise?, an Italian Classic, precisely a Bologna specialty.

He reminds me to do it whenever he sees the movie Garfield, thankfully once in 2 months time ?..:) as this is a rich and consistent dish, highly caloric as well..... Try to pair it with a crunchy salad and maybe cut down down your dessert to balance the meal.



As for me, I'll have no self-reproach relishing this succulent dish, after all I?ll need some calories to withstand the coming winter:):)!!!



Ingredients: (for 4 to 6)



400g minced beef (preferably stewing meat)

150g minced sausage meat

800 g finely chopped tomatoes

1 carrot (peeled and chopped into small cubes)

3 onions, chopped finely

4 cloves garlic, minced finely

A tbsp of concentrated tomato puree

3 bay leaves

1 tablespoon basil

1 tablespoon oregano

Olive oil

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups of water

1 tablespoon sugar

Salt and pepper

500 ml Béchamel sauce ( see Herefor the recipe)

400 ? 500g lasagna

100g Grated Parmesan

300g Grated Emmental or any other

500g mozzarella



Method:



For the Meat Sauce:



Dip the tomatoes in some boiling water for 40 seconds. Remove, drain and and peel them.



Chop the onions, garlic, carrot and the tomatoes.



Heat the olive oil ( on low medium heat) and add the onions and fry slightly. Add the minced meats and stir fry on high heat until the meat changes its colour. Add the carrot and the garlic and fry a little more. Add salt and pepper. Add the tomatoes and the concentrated paste, the bayleaves and the herbs and the sugar.



Stir fry for few minutes and add the wine and water (reduce if necessary) and let it boil.



Close and let it simmer on low flame for about 40 minutes.



Be sure to mix your sauce from time to time so that does not stick to the bottom.



The sauce should neither be too dry nor too liquid but sufficiently liquid to cook the lasagne.

Remove and set aside to cool down completely.



Meanwhile prepare the Béchamel Sauce.







For the Béchamel sauce, you?ll need:



70 g butter

70 g SIFTED flour

1 liter of milk

Salt, Cayenne pepper

Nutmeg



Method:



Bring the milk to a boil and keep aside.



Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan on very low heat; as soon as it starts to sizzle, add the sifted flour all at once and stir with a whisk or a wooden spatula with all your strength. (We should not let it brown and also prevent any lumps to form)



Cook it for about 5 minutes stirring continuously until you get a smooth and white mixture.



Pour the boiling milk on the above mixture and mix thoroughly with a whip.

Add the salt, pepper & nutmeg.



Bring to boil once again on very low heat by whipping constantly. The Béchamel sauce will thicken. Cook for some more minutes by whisking constantly. Remove and set aside to cool.



You can very well do this sauce earlier and conserve in the refrigerator upto 2 to three days.



Assemble the lasagne:



Grease an oven proof dish with some butter and a garlic pod and put a layer of the Béchamel sauce.



Arrange the lasagna sheets on it.



Cover the above with a sufficient amount of the meat sauce (The lasagna sheets are going to be cooked in this sauce)

Top the sauce with some grated Emmental cheese and spoon some Béchamel sauce over it and continue like the previous layers.



Continue with another layer and the rest of the meat sauce.



Top with some parmesan cheese and bake the whole for about 45 minutes in a preheated oven at 210° C.



Add the mozzarella (cut as you like) 10 minutes before the cooking time.



Serve it really hot!!!

A Côtes du Rhône Villages / a Chianti or a Bardolino would be a perfect for the dish!

Buon appetito!!!!



and a lovely award to end my day......



my hearty thanks to Lavanya Siva from Spice-India for the beautiful gesture !!!!