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
Scale
Units
Method
| 4 tbsp | 1 Make a slack béchamel 15m Looser than usual — the pasta will drink it. | 2 Layer sauce, pasta, béchamel and cheese, four times 15m Thin layers. A thick slab of meat sauce steams rather than sets. | 3 Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 30 minutes then uncovered 20 50m | 4 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 | |||||
- 1
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.
- 2
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.
- 3
Bake at 190°C / 375°F, covered 30 minutes then uncovered 20
50m- from 2 Layer sauce, pasta, béchamel and cheese, four times
- 4
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.
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.