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).
Wonder if you can make a meat free version of this recipe? I love your scrumptious vegan butternut squash recipe in your cookbook. This recipe reminds me why RTE was my go-to food blog before going plant-based: So big on flavor, no compromise.
I love this recipe. I’ve never been able to pull off lasagne despite being a decent cook, finally I have succeeded!
Can this receipe be made the night before, put in the fridge and then cook in the oven the next day ?
Amazing flavour in the ragu. I prepped the meat and took it away on holidays, to assemble the night we were eating it. Incidentally, my sisters had each chosen a RTE recipe to cook for the other dinners while on holiday. We love RTE!!
Thank you Kathryn for replying
I made the lasagna with dried pasta sheets and the bechamel with GF flour and it was amazing everyone raved about it.The pasta was tender no dry spots and the top wasn’t wavy it was nice and flat. Big success!!
Kind regards
Nina.
Love this recipe, and I made my first bechemel sauce with this! Inspired by an ex-girlfriend’s italian mother, I add a layer of sauteed mushrooms and zucchini for a veg boost!
A bit confused about the cheese and how much and what for. There are 3 references to cheeses I think. Layers of cheese in assembling, cheese that is to be sprinkled on top and cheese that goes in to the sauce. Which cheese and how much goes where?
So this recipe is foolproof and wonderful. My freshly cooked version was a little on the loose side and piping hot, even with resting out of the oven for 30+ mins, but the flavour was exceptional. The only variance was that I used fresh herbs, not dried. I cooked this recipe that easily serves 8 hungry people for my husband and one other friend! The leftovers went in the fridge and, guess what… it was EVEN TASTIER the next day!!! It held its shape perfectly and I heated it up in the microwave for a delicious supper ready in the time it took me to open the red wine. It’s a keeper in my recipe tin for sure.
Hi Nagi
I am about to make your delicious looking lasagna for the family
Two of my family members are coeliac so I will have to make this recipe with gluten free dried lasagna sheets any tips on any alterations I will have to make to your recipe so it is delicious.
Thank you.
I made this with Latina fresh GF pasta sheets and Well & Good GF Plain Flour and it worked perfectly. Held together beautifully and tasted great.
Hi Nina, when I cooked this for the extended family (3 coeliacs) I used GF fresh lasagne sheets. I didn’t change anything else and it worked well!
Hi Nagi
I am about to make your delicious looking lasagna for the family
Two of my family members are coeliac so I will have to make this recipe with gluten free dried lasagna sheets any tips on any alterations I will have to make to your recipe so it is delicious.
Thank you.
I find using the Latina fresh gluten free pasta sheets is the better option over dried ones if you can get it. Substitute for GF flour (same amount) and that’s it!
Not so much a comment, but moreover a query as I find i have to extend time on some cooks. Do you work with fan forced oven or bake oven or fan bake oven? ✌
Another absolutely winning recipe! Thanks Nagi! Just a question on freezing; when reheating, should I thaw first then reheat, or reheat from frozen and for how long?
Made this ahead for our family Xmas (am rating it later).
All the make ahead notes were so very helpful.
Turned out beautifully & was enjoyed by many.
I rarely make lasagne as it’s always been a disaster. This was the first time I managed to get it right! My husband and I LOVED it!
I didn’t have access to fresh pasta, but have had disasters with both raw pasta and stuck-together sheets in the past. This time I took the advice of another poster and pre-cooked the sheets for a few minutes in shallow water. I also used cheddar instead of mozzarella.
I will definitely come back to this recipe next time I make lasagne.
Followed this recipe to the letter and ended up with the best lasagne I have ever had. Thank you. A great success
Was nice but not awesome . Cafe delicate has a better version
Agreed!
Hi! I’ve made this multiple times as a lasagna and also just the ragú for a beautiful and rich bolognaise. This tastes beautiful every time. Just needs a bit of for thought because cooking it for 2+ hours is absolutely worth it. I keep coming back to this recipe because I have most things on hand anyways so it works out as such a cheap but amazing meal for my family! Thank you 🙂
Definitely want to try this because it looks delicious and I’m not a fan of ricotta. However, as others have stated, it is not accurate to characterize lasagna w/ ricotta as “American.” It is a traditional regional method of preparing lasagna common in southern Italy. Tacos are still Mexican, even though they’re popular in America; pad thai is still Thai, even though it’s popular in America; and lasagna w/ ricotta is most certainly Italian, in spite of its American popularity.
I want to make your Lasagne recipe when my son and his family come for tea soon. I see the recipe feeds 10, but there will only be 5 of us, so do I half all the ingredients. Thank you
Moira, I would just make it as is. Freeze your leftovers (if any) and enjoy them later. Or send them home with your son. It is the same amount of work, so enjoy the full recipe. Happy tea with your family.
Hi there, I am going to make your Lasagne recipe when my son and his family come for tea. There will only be 5 of us, so do I half all the ingredients,
Thank you
Hi, if I preassemble this in the morning and fridge it to cook in the evening. How much longer do you think I should cook it for ?