Classic Lasagna With Meat Sauce, Tomatoes and Bechamel Sauce ( L

Submitted by Pinaygourmet 345142

"Another fantastic Italian dish from Cucina. Lasagna is one of my favourite dishes and I just love the cheese! Yummy!!!"

 

• Ready In: 1hr 40mins
• Ingredients: 30
• Serves: 6-8

ingredients

• For the Meat Sauce

• 1⁄3 cup olive oil
• 1 1⁄2 lbs ground veal
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 large white onion, chopped finely
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, coarsely chopped
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 (796 ml) canned whole Italian plum tomatoes, diced
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 4 sun-dried tomatoes, diced
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1 orange, zest of, only, grated
• salt and pepper
• 2 Italian sausages

• Pasta and Cheeses

• 12 dried lasagna noodles
• 1 lb ricotta cheese
• 1 lb mozzarella cheese, sliced
• 2 tablespoons romano cheese, grated

• Bechamel Sauce with Cheese

• 1⁄3 cup butter
• 1⁄3 cup flour
• 2 cups milk
• salt and pepper
• grated nutmeg
• 125 g old cheddar cheese, grated

directions

1. For the Meat Sauce:

2. Heat oil in a heavy- bottomed pot over high heat and brown veal for 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.
3. Add onion, garlic, celery, peppers, dried tomatoes,tomato paste and seasonings. Reduce heat and cook for 15 minutes. Break up whole tomatoes with the back of the spoon and stir sauce occasionally. Add the grated orange zest and cook another 5 minutes.
4. Cook sausages in a frying pan. Remove, slice and set aside.

5. For the Bechamel Sauce:

6. In a saucepan, melt butter and then add flour. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly. Add milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg to taste.
7. Blend in the Cheddar cheese, stirring well. Set aside to cool.

8. Assemble the lasagna:

9. Preheat oven to 400°F.
10. Cook lasagna noodles in plenty of boiling, salted water until al dente. Rinse in cold water, oil lightly and set aside on a clean towel.
11. Pour a layer of meat sauce in the bottom of a lasagna pan. Cover with a layer of noodles, then half of the combined cheeses (tossed together) and half of the Bechamel.
12. Continue with another layer of noodles and the rest of the meat sauce. Cover with one more layer of noodles, the remaining bechamel sauce and the sliced sausages. Finish with the remaining cheese mixture.
13. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.
14. Bake in centre of oven for 40 minutes.

Reviews

[Tammy Scott Saunde]

Great recipe, but please review and indicate CARROTS and also the addition of the milk in the Bechamel Sauce is missing. <br/><br/>We did one minor change which we really liked. The purist might disagree! Instead of lasagna noodles, we use fresh wonton wrappers which makes a buttery soft "noodle". It is faster and delicious. Thanks for posting!!

 

[seabeyond]

I am puzzled as to why this recipe received 5 stars! Very labor intensive, costly and the end result is a terrible mix of vegetables, herbs and spices. Both my husband and I couldn't finish more than two bites.

 

[shcamv]

The only reason I give 4 star instead of 5 is because of the instructions. I had to assume lots of things. Whoever wrote the recipe looks like he/she was on a rush. Otherwise the lasagna was delicious, hubby said is a keeper and he doesn't say that very often :)<br/>I was wondering if you can refrigerate this recipe a day ahead and bake it next day??<br/>Thank you for sharing the recipe.

 

[slpopeck]

This lasagna was delicious! It takes quite a bit of time to prepare, but it's worth it. I was worried about the meat sauce having veggies & orange zest, but my guests LOVED it. The only change I made was to use a red pepper instead of a green one.

 

[JLakins]

Wow, this is a great lasagna. Served it for a small dinner party and everyone had seconds. Great flavor combinations. A definite keeper. The only change I made was I had to use ground beef instead of veal. Otherwise I made it exactly per the directions.