When it comes to an all-time best-loved dish, lasagna is tops on lots of lists (including mine!). This particular combination of luscious Bolognese with layers of noodles and creamy béchamel—there’s not even spinach or ricotta to interfere with this holy trinity!—is simple, and close to the original recipe from Bologna. It’s total lasagna bliss. This recipe takes some time, but not much effort, especially if you’ve stocked your freezer with Easy Classic Bolognese sauce, one of the most freezer-friendly foods there is (get the recipe here). Get my whole list of best and worst foods to freeze here, plus best practices for keeping frozen foods fresh and safe, so you never waste time and money freezing the wrong things.
Serves 9 – 12
INGREDIENTS:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups milk
¼ teaspoon salt
Fresh nutmeg
12 lasagna noodles
5 cups Easy Classic Bolognese
2 cups grated mozzarella
½ cup grated Parmesan
METHOD:
Make a béchamel: melt butter in a medium pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour and cook 1 minute, then gradually whisk in milk. Cook and whisk until thickened. Stir in salt and about 5 gratings of fresh nutmeg. Reserve.
Cook lasagna noodles in boiling salted water until barely tender. Drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking water. Rinse the noodles with cool water until cold.
Combine Easy Classic Bolognese with the reserved pasta water. Spread about ½ cup of the béchamel across the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish. Top with 3 noodles lengthwise (they will be too short for the dish, so just place them in the centre). Top with 1 more heaping cup of Bolognese mixture. Top again with about ½ cup béchamel, then 3 noodles. Repeat the meat-béchamel-noodles layers, finishing with béchamel. Sprinkle with mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake at 350°F for 30 minutes.
Remove the foil and sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake 15 minutes, or until bubbling and golden here and there. Let stand at least 10 minutes before serving.
Love your freezer? Check out my Freezer Masterclass, plus my live freezer-stocking cooking “prepshops” here. Harrowsmith readers can use promo code HS40 for a discount!
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Claire Tansey is Canada’s Master of Mealtime. She is the author of national bestsellers Dinner, Uncomplicated and Uncomplicated. She’s been in the food business for over 20 years; along the way she sang lead in a rock band, got a master’s degree and was Food Director of Chatelaine. Claire is a guest expert on Cityline and CBC Radio and she runs a virtual cooking school where she inspires home cooks with easy, delicious recipes.
Originally from Montreal, Claire lives in Toronto with her partner, Michael, who eats everything and their son, Thomas, who does not.
