- [Chef] It's cheesy, comforting and indulgent.
A truly great lasagna can turn
a bad day into a really good one.
Here is our recipe for the ultimate lasagna.
(vibrant music)
When testing, we wanted to figure out
what was really worth spending our time on
and where we could take shortcuts
but still get the most incredible recipe.
The sauce, this is definitely a place
where you wanna give it the most time and love
because it is the star of the dish.
A lot of recipes call for a bolognese,
which is a thick and creamy meat sauce
or a marinara, which is actually just a simple tomato sauce.
However, we found a hybrid
of the two gave us something really delicious.
For ours, we're using a combination of meats:
half a pound of ground sirloin
because it's more tender and flavorful than ground chuck,
half a pound of pork sausage for complexity and savoriness,
and our secret, prosciutto.
It adds so much flavor and keeps the meat tender.
We'll combine these in a bowl
and shape them into five or six large shaggy meatballs.
We're making them into meatballs
so they slowly break down in the sauce over time,
essentially brazing it to keep it really tender.
Then add olive oil to a large pot over medium-high heat.
Once the oil is hot, we'll brown our meatballs.
This just takes about a minute on each side.
Make sure you do this in batches,
so you don't overcrowd the pan.
Searing the meat locks in moisture,
and all those little brown bits
at the bottom of the pan will
actually give our sauce a ton of flavor.
This is called the Maillard reaction.
We'll set those aside, reduce the heat,
and then we'll add in our onions and salt.
Let it cook until it's translucent.
It only takes about five or seven minutes.
Then we'll add in garlic, fresh thyme,
fresh oregano, red pepper flakes,
and another one of our secrets, crushed fennel seeds.
These guys make the sauce pop and offset its richness.
I like using fresh herbs just
because I think they have more flavor,
and they're a lot more aromatic than their dried variety.
I like to crush the fennel seeds with a mortar and pestle,
but if you don't have one, a knife works great too.
Saute these just until fragrant.
Oh, my God, it is smelling so good in here.
I just love the smell of that garlic.
The next thing we're gonna do is add tomato paste.
It thickens the sauce and gives it a deep, rich flavor.
Make sure to stir this frequently
until the color turns a dark red.
This usually takes about three to four minutes.
This is about the color we want.
Now it's time to deglaze our pan.
We're using red wine, because who doesn't love red wine?
But seriously, it has great flavor.
You can also use beef stock or even water if you prefer.
You just need some type of liquid
to scrape up all those flavorful bits
on the bottom of the pan,
so they go into your sauce.
Cook this until almost all of the moisture is evaporated.
In French cooking, this is called au sec.
It's time to add our tomatoes.
We're adding both whole San Marzano tomatoes and passata,
which is also known as strained tomatoes.
San Marzanos are grown in volcanic ash,
which makes them rich, tender, and not overly acidic.
Passata tomatoes are strained of their seeds and skin,
making for a deliciously smooth sauce.
We'll add these to the pot.
And this next part might sound weird,
but we're actually gonna add a whole carrot.
The carrot will absorb acidity from the tomatoes
and add sweetness to the sauce.
But don't worry, we'll remove it later.
Next, add butter.
This is a secret from Italian legend Marcella Hazan,
and we agree.
You cannot skip it.
It makes for a velvety rich sauce that cannot be beat.
And finally, add in your meatballs
and two teaspoons of salt.
Bring this to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer.
Let it cook for about 1 1/2 to two hours.
The longer it cooks, the more flavor it will develop.
Once the sauce has thickened,
discard that carrot and use a potato masher
to crush those meatballs into small pieces.
You can season it more to taste here,
and if the sauce isn't sweet enough for you,
just add a teaspoon of sugar.
Then stir in fresh basil leaves.
We like to use fresh
because it adds brightness to the rich sauce.
My grandmother always told me to hand tear it.
I have no idea why.
But if you're in our family, you do what Betty says.
Now it's time to make the bechamel sauce.
We tested making the lasagna with a ricotta,
a bechamel, and even a bechamel ricotta.
Ultimately, we liked the creamy base of the bechamel best
because it kept the lasagna moist,
and it was super easy to spread over the noodles.
We'll start by melting our butter until it starts to foam,
and then we'll add in our flour.
Let's cook this until we don't see any lumps
but the roux hasn't browned yet.
This usually takes about three minutes.
Now we're gonna slowly add in our milk
and keep whisking until it's evenly incorporated.
Then add in the salt,
garlic powder and nutmeg and keep whisking.
You'll know it's done when it's thick enough
to coat the back of a spoon just like this.
Now we're gonna turn off the heat
so we don't burn our beautiful sauce
and stir in parmigiano-reggiano cheese.
We like to grate this ourselves
because it melts down better in the sauce,
and it just has a more pronounced flavor
than if you buy the store-bought kind.
The nutty sharp flavor
of the parmigiano-reggiano compliments
the creaminess of the bechamel just really well.
So our bechamel is complete,
and there's one last thing to talk about, noodles.
We tested regular store-bought, oven-ready store-bought,
and even made them from scratch.
The regular noodles ended up
just a little too mushy at the end.
From scratch was very, very good
but we also found that the texture just ended up
to be a little too soft,
and ultimately, it wasn't worth the time.
Oven-ready was surprisingly our favorite.
We loved it for its texture.
It just had more of a bite to it.
I know, we were shocked too.
A little trick we like to do is actually soak our noodles
in hot water and olive oil
for about five to 10 minutes
or just until it's softened a tiny bit,
where you can bend them just like this.
This helps prevent them from absorbing the sauce
when cooking and drying out your lasagna.
Now, it's time to build our beautiful baby.
We'll start by greasing our baking dish.
This lasagna is big. She's got layers.
So your dish should be at least three inches deep.
Our first layer is meat sauce,
and this is gonna help the noodles not stick to the pan.
Next, we'll add our noodles.
Over those, we'll spread out an even layer of bechamel,
then we'll add a second layer of meat sauce,
followed by fontina and mozzarella cheese.
We love this combo because the fontina's nutty
and sharp flavor contrasted really well
with the creaminess of the mozzarella.
Next, we'll add another layer of noodles,
placing them in the opposite direction as the first layer,
so there are no gaps.
And finally, another layer of bechamel.
Repeat this to make four more layers,
ending with a layer of noodles.
In my opinion, it's not really a lasagna
unless there's at least four layers.
We'll top this off with one more cup of bechamel
and dollop more meat sauce on top of that.
Scatter the remaining fontina on top,
then add fresh mozzarella cheese on top.
We love fresh mozzarella because it gets nice and brown,
and it's creamy, and I don't know, I just like it.
You can totally just use shredded mozzarella.
I'm honestly just being extra.
Finally add the grated Parmesan on top
and cover it with foil.
Make sure to coat your foil with nonstick spray,
so the cheese doesn't stick to it.
And now, it's time to bake.
We'll bake the lasagna for 30 minutes
and then remove the foil and bake it
for another 25 to 30
just until the cheese is bubbling,
and then let it cool for 20 minutes.
We worked so hard, and now it is time to reward ourselves.
We promise you this lasagna will be a hit
with your family and friends.
Just whip it up on a cozy Sunday afternoon
and enjoy leftovers throughout the week.
You can find this recipe and many more on Tasty.co.