Name: Lasagne alla Bolognese
Prep time: 40 min
Cook time: 180 min
Total time: 220 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 400 g Coarsely minced beef; 200 g Minced pork; 100 g Pancetta; 100 g Onion; 100 g Carrot; 100 g Celery stalks; 400 ml Tomato passata; 200 ml Dry red wine; 900 ml Whole milk; 300 g Egg lasagne sheets; 80 g Unsalted butter; 70 g Plain flour; 150 g Parmigiano Reggiano, grated; 1 tsp Nutmeg; 2 tbsp Extra-virgin olive oil; 2 tsp Fine sea salt; 1 tsp Ground black pepper

About this dish

The lasagne of Bologna was codified in 1982, when the Accademia Italiana della Cucina lodged an official recipe with the city's chamber of commerce — an unusual act of legal defence for a dish. What it defends is specific: green spinach pasta, a ragù built on a soffritto and finished with milk, béchamel rather than ricotta, and no more than a film of sauce between the layers. The Neapolitan lasagne, with its meatballs and sausage, is a different dish entirely and no less loved.

Not vegetarian because of Coarsely minced beef, Minced pork, Pancetta
Contains gluten because of Egg lasagne sheets, Plain flour
Contains dairy because of Whole milk, Unsalted butter, Parmigiano Reggiano, grated

Ingredients

6servings

400gCoarsely minced beef
200gMinced pork
100gPancetta
100gOnion
100gCarrot
100gCelery stalks
400mlTomato passata
200mlDry red wine
900mlWhole milk
300gEgg lasagne sheets
80gUnsalted butter
70gPlain flour
150gParmigiano Reggiano, grated
1tspNutmeg
2tbspExtra-virgin olive oil
2tspFine sea salt
1tspGround black pepper

Instructions

Dice the onion, carrot and celery as finely as you can — no piece larger than a lentil. Warm the olive oil in a heavy pot, add the pancetta and render it for 3 minutes, then add the vegetables and sweat over low heat for 10 minutes until soft and sweet but not coloured.
12 min
Tip: This soffritto is the base of everything. Chopping it fine matters more than chopping it fast: coarse pieces stay recognisable in the finished sauce.
Raise the heat, add both minces and break them up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until the water has gone and the meat is properly browned rather than grey. Season with salt and pepper.
15 min
Tip: Wait for the liquid to evaporate before you expect browning — the meat steams in its own juices until then, and a grey ragù never recovers.
Pour in the red wine and let it evaporate almost completely. Add the passata and 300 ml of the milk, bring to the barest simmer and cook uncovered for 2½ hours, stirring occasionally. It is ready when the fat separates and glosses the surface.
150 min
Tip: Milk in a meat ragù is the Bolognese signature: it tenderises the meat and rounds off the acidity of the tomato. Add it early, not at the end.
Make the béchamel: melt 60 g butter, whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes without colouring. Take off the heat and add the remaining 600 ml milk in three additions, whisking smooth each time. Return to the heat and cook 8–10 minutes until it coats a spoon. Season with salt and nutmeg.
12 min
Tip: Off the heat for the first splash of milk. That single pause is what prevents lumps, and it is easier than whisking them out later.
Heat the oven to 180 °C. If your sheets need boiling, cook them 2 minutes in salted water and lay them flat on a damp cloth. Butter a deep dish and build: a smear of ragù, then pasta, ragù, béchamel, Parmigiano, repeating for 6 layers.
15 min
Tip: Keep every layer thin. Lasagne fails from generosity — too much sauce and it slumps into soup instead of standing up in slices.
Finish with béchamel, a heavy dusting of Parmigiano and a few flecks of butter. Bake 40–45 minutes until the top is blistered and dark gold at the edges. Rest 20 minutes before cutting.
45 min
Tip: The rest is not optional. Cut straight from the oven, the layers slide apart; twenty minutes lets it set enough to lift a clean square.