Italian lasagna

Ingredients for 8 servings:

• 3 onions
• 2 yellow beets
• 5 stalk(s) Celery
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 800 g minced meat, mixed
• 200 ml red wine
• 1 ½ kg tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 sprig(s) rosemary
• 1 cinnamon stick(s)
• 3 cloves
• 3 bay leaves
• salt and pepper
• 400 g lasagna sheets, without pre-cooking
• 100 g butter
• 8 tbsp flour
• 500 ml milk
• 500 ml vegetable stock
• 200 g mozzarella, grated
• salt and pepper
• ¼ tsp nutmeg, freshly grated

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 10 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 50 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

sophisticated and delicious

Peel the onions and dice them into small cubes. Trim the carrots and dice them into small cubes. Trim the celery and remove the tough outer strands, then slice them into small pieces. Heat the oil in a large pot. Brown the minced meat while stirring, breaking up any lumps of meat. Add the prepared vegetables and sauté for 3 minutes, then deglaze with red wine. Add the chopped tomatoes and the liquid. Season with salt and pepper. Add the rosemary, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaves to the minced meat mixture, bring to a boil, and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Then remove the rosemary, cinnamon, cloves, and bay leaves. Season again with salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the pot, add the flour, and simmer gently for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk; do not allow it to brown. Then gradually add the cold milk and stock while stirring continuously. Stir vigorously to avoid lumps. Bring to a boil for one minute, then season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Stir in half of the grated cheese before preparing the lasagna. Stir the remaining half of the cheese into the last third for the top layer later. Line the bottom of a baking dish (approx. 35 x 22 cm) with approximately 6 lasagna sheets. Spread one-third of the tomato sauce on top. Spread one-third of the béchamel sauce over the tomato sauce. Place more lasagna sheets on top. Add another third of the tomato sauce, then another third of the béchamel sauce. Cover with the remaining lasagna sheets. Spread the remaining tomato sauce, then the remaining béchamel sauce, first stirring in the last half of the cheese. Sprinkle with a few more knobs of butter, if desired. Bake the lasagna on a rack in the preheated oven for approximately 50 minutes. Top and bottom heat 180°C or fan oven 160°C. Allow the lasagne to cool for 5 minutes, cut into 8 portions and serve hot. Tips: – The lasagne can also be prepared the day before and baked the next day. – The lasagne can also be frozen; to do this, bake the lasagne, allow to cool and then freeze. Before serving, bake the thawed lasagne in the oven for approx. 35 minutes at top and bottom heat 160°C or fan oven 140°C. – Vegetarian version: simply replace the minced meat with soy granules, for example. – Alternatively, fresh pasta dough can be used, but in this case it is better to bake the lasagne within the next few hours.