Lasagna alla McMoe

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 1 m.-sized onion(s)
• 1 large carrot(s)
• 1 stalk(s) celeriac
• 50 g ham, pancetta (alternatively smoked streaky bacon)
• 400 g tomatoes, (can)
• 350 g minced meat, mixed
• 125 g butter
• 100 ml red wine, dry, strong, e.g. Chianti
• 100 ml meat broth
• some salt
• some white pepper, freshly ground
• 650 ml milk
• 50 g flour
• 300g mozzarella
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 300 g lasagna sheet(s) (without pre-cooking)
• 70 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• some pepper, mixed, freshly ground
• some nutmeg
• some olive oil

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 3 hours; Total time approx. 3 hours 20 minutes

Lasagna with ragout and mozzarella

Peel the onion and carrot. Rinse the carrot. Trim the celery stalk. Finely chop everything, including the bacon. Puree the tomatoes with their juices. Briefly fry the bacon in 50g butter, then cook the vegetables until translucent. Add the minced meat and fry vigorously. Then pour in the red wine and evaporate over medium heat while stirring. Pour in half of the stock. Simmer everything over low heat. Gradually add the remaining stock and let it evaporate. Add the tomatoes. Season the ragout with salt and pepper (mixed, freshly ground pepper) and add enough milk to cover everything (about 1/4 l). Cover and simmer over very low heat for at least two hours. Add a little more stock if needed. For the béchamel sauce, melt 50g butter in a saucepan. Lightly fry the flour, stirring constantly, then gradually add the rest of the milk with a whisk. Season the sauce with salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. It shouldn’t be too thick, so thin with a little milk if necessary. Cut the mozzarella into small cubes. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a rectangular, ovenproof dish with a little olive oil and butter. Place one layer of lasagna side by side. Spread spoonfuls of ragu and then béchamel sauce on top. Scatter mozzarella cubes between the layers. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan and season with pepper. Repeat until all the ingredients are used up. The last layer of pasta must be completely covered with béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan over the pasta and top with knobs of butter. Cook the lasagna on the middle rack of the oven for about 30 to 40 minutes.