One of the most loved foods in the world is finally here! This is a beautiful Italian Lasagna with layers of slow cooked Ragù Bolognese and Besciamella cheese sauce. Though patience is required, it is quite straight forward to make as you will see in the recipe video!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Traditional Italian lasagna
Lasagna, lasagna. How I love thee! It is possibly one of the most loved foods in the whole wide world, and understandably so. There is just something so sentimental about lasagna, so comforting. It evokes images of of gatherings with family and friends all around the world. It is the sort of food that is like a big warm hug, and so more-ish you want to keep digging in until you burst.
Lasagna just rocks. Full stop.
And if you’ve never tried a homemade one before, that needs to change! If you can make spaghetti bolognese, you can make lasagne. It just requires a wee bit more patience.
OK, bit more than a wee bit more patience. But it’s totally worth it. A real homemade Lasagna is epic.
Homemade Lasagna – three parts
There are 3 components to making lasagna:
The meat sauce;
The white sauce – creamy and thick, but no cream required!
Assembling and baking.
What goes in lasagna
The Meat Sauce is basically just like Bolognese. You need:
Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – for the flavour base, a soffrito;
Beef
Canned tomato and tomato paste
Red wine – for extra flavour!
Seasonings – beef bouillon cubes (stock cubes), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce
For the white sauce, you need:
butter
flour
milk
cheese
For assembling, you need:
lasagna sheets – preferably fresh (from the fridge section of grocery stores) but dried works just fine too
cheese!
How to make lasagne
See? I told you the meat sauce is just like making Bolognese! Though here, we cook that meat sauce long and slow, to develop incredible rich flavours and make the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Layering up!
And here’s how you layer it up:
Smear a bit of meat sauce on the base first – stops the lasagna sheets from sliding around;
Layer 1 – top with meat sauce, bit of white sauce
Layer 2 – lay out more lasagna sheets, then top with more meat sauce and more white sauce
Layer 3 – repeat again, lasagna sheets, meat sauce then white sauce; and
Topping – cover with lasagna sheets, pour over remaining white sauce then sprinkle with cheese.
Pop it in the oven, and THIS is what comes out….
That moment when you cut into the golden bubbly cheesy top and you serve up a piping hot, oozy, meaty slice of lasagna….
That’s a little bit of food heaven, right there.
Lasagna first timers, the recipe video below will be super helpful. ❤️ Trust me, you got this. – Nagi xx
PS Also happens to be one of the nicest food gifts you can make for someone. Freezes 100% perfect, and is a huge step up from the usual simple casseroles. Right? 😉
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Lasagna
Ingredients
Ragu Bolognese:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped (white, yellow or brown)
- 1 medium carrot , peeled and very finely diced
- 1 celery stick , very finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 kg / 2 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 800g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup pinot noir red wine , or other dry red wine (Note 2)
- 3 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled
- 2 bay leaves , dried or fresh
- 1/2 tsp EACH dried thyme and oregano
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 – 2 tsp sugar (if needed – Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper
Cheese Sauce (Besciamella):
- 60g / 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 cups milk , preferably full fat but low fat ok
- 2 cups gruyere or Colby cheese , shred yourself (or cheddar, Monterey Jack, OR 1 cup / 100g shredded parmesan) (Note 4)
- Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Lasagna:
- 350g/ 12 oz fresh lasagna sheets (or 250g/8oz dried) (Note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups (tightly packed) mozzarella cheese , shred yourself (Note 4)
- Finely chopped basil or parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Ragu:
- Heat oil in a large heavy based pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes until softened and sweet – they should not brown (if they do, turn heat down).
- Add beef, turn heat up and cook the beef, breaking it up as you go.
- Once the beef has all turned brown, add the remaining Ragu ingredients EXCEPT the sugar.
- Stir then adjust the heat so it is bubbling very gently. Place the lid on and cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, stirring every now and then, then remove the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- The ragu is ready when the meat is really tender and the sauce has thickened and is rich – see video for consistency (Note 6). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and add sugar if required (Note 3)
Cheese Sauce:
- Warm milk up in a saucepan (optional – just makes sauce thicken faster).
- In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and mix constantly for 1 minute.
- Pour about 1 cup of the milk in, mixing as you go to incorporate into the flour mixture. Once mostly lump free, add remaining milk. Use a whisk if needed to make it lump free.
- Turn heat up to medium high. Stir occasionally at first then regularly after a few minutes until sauce thickens – about 5 – 8 minutes. It should coat the back of the wooden spoon.
- Remove from heat, add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix until the cheese is melted. The Sauce should be thick but still easily pourable – the consistency of heavy cream (you need to be able to drizzle it over the Ragu when layering – see video). If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or milk.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Use a 33 x 22 x 7 cm / 13 x 9 x 2.5″ baking dish.
- Smear a bit of Ragu on the base, then cover with lasagna sheets. Tear sheets to fit.
- Spread over 2 1/2 cups of Ragu (enough to cover sheets), then drizzle over 1 cup of Cheese Sauce.
- Top with lasagna sheets (Note 7). Spread with another 2 1/2 cups of Ragu, then 1 cup of Cheese Sauce. Top with lasagna sheets then repeat 1 more time.
- Top with a 4th layer of lasagna sheets, then pour over the remaining Cheese Sauce.
- Sprinkle with Mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving, garnished with basil or parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Dozer
He just sprawls across the floor when he sleeps. No curling up cutely, chin on paw, like all those cute doggy pics you see all over the internet. Nope, this one just collapses and sprawls out right in my line of path (straight line from kitchen to table is over him – of course).
Best lasagna I’ve had. Even better the next day
I’ve made several different Lasagna recipes before and this one is by far the best I’ve made and tasted. Did omit the nutmeg in the cheese sauce as I’m not a nutmeg fan and rather added a dash of paprika. But SO approved and my 9 year old said its the best ever. This recipe is a keeper
Wow! Have made many different lasagne recipes over the years including my own throw together, all of which have been good. BUT this is amazing I think it’s cooking the meat ragu for 1-2 hrs that really makes it so tasty! Will be making again! 😋
Amazing! So tasty and delicious. Thank you so much for another fantastic recipe, Nagi
Tonight, I decided to deviate from my usual lasagna recipe and gave this delicious recipe a go. I have to say, this was a 10! I made the recipe to the servings of 5 (rather than 10) in a square baking dish. It was on the table in 2hrs rather than the estimated 4hrs in her recipe. It’s very moreish. Follow the recipe and you can’t go wrong!
Pure deliciousness. I chopped onion, carrot and celery in food processor (just in the main bowl, not using grating blades), saved a bit of work. Can also do that with the hard cheese
I used Mutti cherry tomatoes as they are beautifully sweet and break down well over the two hour simmering process .
La ricetta è sbagliata… nel soffritto ad esempio non ci va l’aglio e nel ragù non si mette la salsa worcestershire!! Nella besciamelle non va messo alcun formaggio ma la noce moscata… Peccato vedere un’istituzione come la Lasagna trattata così 😞
Read note 8 re the authenticity of the recipe, Nagi’s take on it:)
First time making lasagna and it was amazing! Will definitely make this again, another fantastic recipe from
Nagi
This produced some really delicious lasagna
. I doubled the sauce because I could tell it wasn’t going to be enough. I also used ricotta cheese in place of the cottage cheese. Will make again
I made this for my family and inlaws for dinner everyone declared it to be the best lasagna they had ever eaten! Thanks for the amazing recipes! Im hooked x
What beef cubes do you use?
It was great to see you on Masterchef
This was amazing the first time i made it! I’m making for a friend this time in advance. what preheat instructions should i give her. What oven temp and for how long to heat all the way through? Thanks
Hello, I need to cook the equivalent of two lasagnas.
Can I adapt the recipe to cook the ragu sauce in the slow cooker?
I was hoping I could just double the meat sauce quantities, and do steps 1 and 2 on the stove and then transfer to a slow cooker. Will this work? If so do I need to add water or stock, and for how long shall I cook?
Hey Nagi!
I’ve been using this recipe for ages but this week came across some buffalo mince and used that – phenomenal!
Thanks as always and love to Dozer 🐶
Amazing recipe and a family favourite in our house!
This turned out beautifully! Discovered my lasagna dish had a crack in it so had to make a bigger version in a roasting tin and it was fine! Added some blobs (about 150g) of ricotta I had going spare in the fridge for extra yum, and used a fresh herb garni instead of dried. All super delish and the bechamel was perfect. Thank you!!! 🙏
Nagi where can I buy the spatula that you use to spend the Bechemel sauce. Love your book and all the things you make are great. Thank you.
Hi, it’s called a palette knife. If in Australia, buy from any kitchen store, make sure it’s the smaller version as there are about 3 different sizes. It worked very well for spreading the meat ragu as well! 😃
Definitely a keeper!
At last I can guarantee that my homemade lasagne is better and way less costly than any of the local restaurants in my area. Thanks Nagi 😊
Hi Nagi, I just wanted to mention that in the video you said to bake the lasagna for 35 mins but in the written recipe you said 25. Which is correct?
Hi Nagi, if using homemade beef stock (from your recipes!) how much of the stock should one substitute for the beef bouillon cubes in this recipe?
For anyone wondering, like me, I just went ahead and used ~1L of the home-made beef stock in place of the beef bouillon cube and it turned out amazing!!