Lasagne
Two sauces, assembled in thin layers and rested before cutting. The béchamel is what stops it collapsing on the plate.
- Prep
- 40m
- Cook
- 50m
- Waiting
- 25m
- Total
- 1h 55m
- Serves
- 8
- Effort
- Involved
Method
Shop-bought sauce and no béchamel — ricotta beaten with an egg sets just as well and skips a pan.
Tap a step number to mark it done. Tap an ingredient once for got it, twice for need it.
| 4 tbsp | Make a slack béchamel 15m Looser than usual — the pasta will drink it. | Layer sauce, pasta, béchamel and cheese, four times 15m Thin layers. A thick slab of meat sauce steams rather than sets. | Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 30 minutes then uncovered 20 50m | Rest 20 minutes before cutting 20m Cut it hot and it slides apart. The rest lets the starch set. | |
| 1/3 cup | |||||
| 4 cups | |||||
| a scrape | |||||
| 1 tsp | |||||
| 1 batch | |||||
| 300 g | |||||
| 100 g | |||||
| 125 g | |||||
-
Make a slack béchamel
15m- butter 4 tbsp
- plain flour 1/3 cup
- whole milk 4 cups
- nutmeg a scrape
- salt 1 tsp
Looser than usual — the pasta will drink it.
-
Layer sauce, pasta, béchamel and cheese, four times
15m- from 1 Make a slack béchamel
- ragù bolognese 1 batch
- dried lasagne sheets 300 g
- Parmigiano Reggiano 100 g
Thin layers. A thick slab of meat sauce steams rather than sets.
-
Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 30 minutes then uncovered 20
50m- from 2 Layer sauce, pasta, béchamel and cheese, four times
-
Rest 20 minutes before cutting
20m- from 3 Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 30 minutes then uncovered 20
- mozzarella (optional) 125 g
Cut it hot and it slides apart. The rest lets the starch set.
| 500 g | Beat until smooth and spreadable 3m The egg is what sets it; without it the ricotta stays grainy. | Layer sauce, pasta, ricotta and cheese, three times 12m Thin layers still matter — that part is not a shortcut. | Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 25 minutes then uncovered 20 45m Rest 15 minutes before cutting, same as the full version. | |
| 1 | ||||
| 50 g | ||||
| a scrape | ||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||
| 500 g | Brown the mince, then stir in the sauce and simmer 20m | |||
| 1 tbsp | ||||
| 1 | ||||
| 700 g | ||||
| 250 g | ||||
| 125 g | ||||
-
Beat until smooth and spreadable
3m- ricotta 500 g
- egg 1
- Parmigiano Reggiano 50 g
- nutmeg a scrape
- salt 1/2 tsp
The egg is what sets it; without it the ricotta stays grainy.
-
Brown the mince, then stir in the sauce and simmer
20m- beef mince 500 g
- olive oil 1 tbsp
- onion 1
- good tomato pasta sauce 700 g
-
Layer sauce, pasta, ricotta and cheese, three times
12m- from 1 Beat until smooth and spreadable
- from 2 Brown the mince, then stir in the sauce and simmer
- dried lasagne sheets 250 g
Thin layers still matter — that part is not a shortcut.
-
Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 25 minutes then uncovered 20
45m- from 3 Layer sauce, pasta, ricotta and cheese, three times
- mozzarella 125 g
Rest 15 minutes before cutting, same as the full version.
Why the béchamel matters
Meat sauce alone has nothing to hold it together; slice into it and the layers slide. Béchamel is a starch gel that sets on cooling, gluing the sheets to the filling. It also supplies the moisture no-boil sheets need to hydrate, which is why the sauce should be looser than you would serve on its own.
Notes
- Assemble a day ahead and refrigerate. The sheets soften evenly and the bake is more predictable.
- Covered first, then uncovered. All-uncovered dries the top before the middle is hot.
- Four thin layers beat two thick ones, every time.