Brazilian Lasagna
photo by Peabo Bryan L.
- Ready In:
- 50mins
- Ingredients:
- 17
- Serves:
-
4-6
ingredients
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1⁄4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 small white onion, chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1⁄2 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeds removed, and chopped
- 1 lb uncooked lasagne noodles
- 1⁄2 lb sliced mozzarella cheese
- 1⁄2 lb thinly sliced ham
- 2 ounces grated parmesan cheese
- 2 teaspoons oregano
- 2 teaspoons salt
directions
- Melt butter with flour in saucepan over medium heat. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add milk slowly while stirring mixture with a wooden spoon. Bring sauce to boil and cook 10 minutes. Set white sauce aside until it's time to assemble the lasagne.
- Brown ground beef in a large sauce pan over high heat with vegetable oil, onion and garlic. Add tomatoes and water just enough to cook a thick meat sauce. Set meat sauce aside until it's time to assemble the lasagne.
- Preheat oven to 350°F Bring four quarts of water to a boil. Stir in salt then add noodles four at a time and cook uncovered until tender but firm. Use a large fork or slotted spoon to remove cooked noodles directly to the baking dish.
- Spoon meat sauce into baking dish. Make four layers of noodles, as follows: Put first layer of noodles on top of meat sauce. Then alternate each layer with meat sauce, mozzarella and ham. In one of the layers put only white sauce with ham. Cover lasagne with sauce, grated parmesan and a sprinkle of oregano. Bake for 20 minutes. Cover with foil during baking to avoid cheese from burning.
Questions & Replies
Got a question?
Share it with the community!
Reviews
-
Even without trying I know this is THE real Brazilian lasagna--as we say in Portuguese! There are few things I miss from Brazil and this is one of them. Your friend is from a State in South of Brazil, close to where I lived; this is a very common weekend family lunch. Now I will have to make lasagna next Sunday! ;-)
-
What a wonderful recipe. My husband spent two years in Brazil doing missionary work. When he came home and started taste testing the sauce it was I rember that sauce. I did do some adaptations due to what I did and did not have. No ham so I added 1/2 pound more of the beef, and only oven ready lasagne noodles, so I added a 1/2 cup of water to the meat sauce, and 1/2 cup of milk to the white sauce for the needed 1 cup of extra liquid to cook the noodles, and it came out perfect, cooked for 1 hour to properly cook the noodles. I used all of the ingredients in each layer, even the kids who while they like lasagne don't like the riccotta, and by the time they pick it out half of their piece is left on the plate, not this time they took healthy pieces, and ate it all, using my homemade bread to get every bite. My husband and a friend who ate with us each had 2 pieces, and claimed dibbs on the rest for lunch the next day. I definetly will be making this again. Thanks for posting.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Belgophile
United States
My most cherished cookbook is Ruth Van Waerebeek's Everybody Eats Well in Belgium. It has been my inspiration for most of our family's special occasions and holiday meals and it was through exploring this book that cooking and entertaining became such a pleasurable hobby for me. The book is out of print, but I contacted Ruth to express my appreciation and ask her permission to include her recipes here. In her words: "My main concern when I wrote this book, was exactly that, that people around the globe would be able to taste these wonderful Belgian flavors! So, I don't have any objection that you post the recipes on the web."