home Lasagna is a traditional dish
Italian cuisine: aromatic, tasty and very satisfying. In essence, this is a kind of casserole in which sheets of pasta (pasta in our opinion) alternate with meat stew and Bechamel sauce. There are a huge number of lasagna recipes, and I will share with you the one that we love in our family.
I would like to note right away that this is not a classic Bolognese lasagna recipe, but a variation on the theme. Some of the products that are included in the original casserole are not liked by my family, so I selected the ingredients in such a way that everyone would be full and happy. Read more about this below... Now a couple important points
and we'll cook - wait a little. I can’t help but dwell on lasagna sheets, which come in 2 types: those that require pre-cooking and those that are placed directly dry (my version). This is always indicated on the product packaging, so read the instructions on the box carefully before you start cooking.
Bechamel sauce. A little trick (for those who don’t know): when cooled, a crust forms on the surface of this custard sauce, which is completely useless. But if you cover the dish with a lid, condensation will form and there will be water in the sauce. We don't need that either. So we do this: take cling film and cover the sauce with it - place it right on top, letting out the air. Leave the Bechamel in this position until it cools completely (or slightly), if you need to store it for some time and not use it right away. And one more thing: don’t be scared by so many steps and long description
(Bolognese sauce: (500 grams) (500 milliliters) (100 grams) (100 grams) (100 grams) (50 grams) (2 tablespoons ) (2 tablespoons ) (0.5 teaspoon) (0.25 teaspoon)
Cooking the dish step by step with photos: To prepare homemade lasagna we will need quite a lot of different products, which for convenience I decided to break down into(see recipe ingredients). So, let's take lasagna sheets, milk, water, minced meat, cheese, wheat flour, butter and vegetable oil, tomato paste, carrots, onion, celery stalk, bay leaf, pepper mixture, salt and sugar. About all products and possible options I will discuss their replacement in detail below in the steps.
First of all, let's start preparing Bolognese sauce. To do this, we need a wide and deep frying pan (mine is 26 centimeters in diameter) or some thick-walled dish into which we pour a couple of tablespoons of refined vegetable oil (I use sunflower). We put the dishes on low heat and, while the oil warms up, quickly prepare the vegetables (the weight is indicated in already peeled form). We clean the carrots and onions, then cut them into small, small cubes and place them in already hot oil. Next, cut the juicy celery stalk (don’t forget to wash it, of course) into the same small cube and add it to the rest of the vegetables.
Fry the vegetables over medium heat, stirring, until nicely browned and half cooked. There is no need to blush too much.
At the next stage of preparing Bolognese sauce, add minced meat to the semi-finished vegetables. Regarding the choice of product: you can use the one you like best. For example, from one type of meat or a mixture - in my case it is pork and chicken in equal proportions. In addition, beef, veal, rabbit are perfect (definitely not my option). Place the minced meat in a frying pan and over medium heat (while constantly stirring with a spoon or spatula), lightly brown it.
Next comes the time for the tomato component of the future Bolognese sauce. Here you can safely experiment: I use homemade tomato paste, but in general, crushed canned tomatoes without skin (250-300 grams) are perfect, my favorite tomato sauce(about 100 grams) or just fresh tomatoes (5-6 medium-sized pieces). In the latter case, they need to be kept in boiling water for a couple of minutes (after making a cross-shaped cut on the side opposite the stalk), then remove the skin and finely chop the pulp. Don’t forget to flavor the meat and vegetables with bay leaves.
Pour 500 milliliters of water into the frying pan (preferably directly with boiling water, so as not to stop the heat treatment of the products). Of course, many will say that in the original you need to use wine (white or red dry), but personally in our family this option is not particularly welcome, so I add simple drinking water.
Mix everything thoroughly, cover the pan with a lid and turn on the lowest heat possible. In this form, our Bolognese sauce will simmer for at least 1.5 (and preferably 2 or more) hours. It should not seethe much - ideally it should tremble. Don't forget to stir the contents of the dish several times.
We have temporarily completed the first task, so it’s time to move on to the second component of the future lasagna - preparing the classic Bechamel sauce. The first step is to warm the milk thoroughly - you don't have to bring it to a boil, but it should be very hot.
Then take a saucepan (or stewpan) and put it in butter. Place on medium heat and let it melt completely.
Actively stir all the ingredients until smooth, without removing the pan from the heat. This is how we brew the flour to get rid of the characteristic floury taste.
Then gradually add hot milk in small portions (literally 1-2 tablespoons), remembering to actively stir the contents of the pan all the time. Don't let any lumps form, otherwise they will end up in the finished sauce.
Thus, gradually introduce all the hot milk into the custard base, without removing the dishes from medium heat and constantly stirring the sauce. Cook until the mixture thickens and becomes homogeneous. If there are still a few lumps, you must rub the mixture through a sieve. However, with constant stirring there should be no lumps!
Add salt and ground nutmeg. It is not necessary to take exactly as many seasonings as indicated in my recipe - it is a matter of taste.
Cook for another 1-2 minutes (don’t forget to stir) and remove the dishes from the heat. The thickness of the classic Bechamel sauce when hot should be like fairly thin sour cream. This custard sauce will thicken significantly as it cools. I wrote in the preface to the recipe how to preserve the sauce so that a crust does not form on the surface.
After about 1.5 hours from the start of stewing (after adding water), the Bolognese sauce will be almost ready - remove the lid (it will no longer be needed). Or rather, for spaghetti, for example, it is already ready, but for lasagna it is still a bit runny. Salt and pepper the sauce to taste, add a little sugar to balance the acidity tomato paste. We throw away the bay leaf - it has lost its aroma and is no longer needed.
We turn the heat to medium and, with constant stirring, evaporate excess moisture from the sauce. Bolognese for lasagna will be ready when there is no broth left at the bottom of the pan (so to speak), but only vegetable oil and fat from the minced meat. Taste again for salt, sugar and pepper and adjust seasonings to your liking.
The penultimate stage of preparing lasagna is assembling the casserole. As a rule, for lasagna, choose either a square or rectangular shape of such a size that the sheets fit perfectly into it. In my case, I use a rectangular glass form of 25x15 cm - just enough to fit 3 sheets in one layer. Grease the bottom and sides of the mold with soft butter.
Lasagna Recipes
Let's learn how to prepare classic bechamel sauce for lasagna. A visual video tutorial that will help even beginners cope with preparing the sauce.
25 min
180 kcal
5/5 (4)
We all love various sauces, because they give our dishes richness and piquancy. Even the taste of ordinary pasta can completely change delicious sauce. Many have heard intriguing things in French beautiful name Bechamel sauce. This is a classic base sauce made from flour, butter and milk. And adding spices or cheese, we get thick, spicy taste. Bechamel sauce is served separately with both fish and meat. But, undoubtedly, bechamel is an invariable sauce for preparing lasagna. It is easy to prepare and the ingredients are very simple.
Kitchen appliances: thick saucepan, whisk or spatula, knife, teaspoon, grater.
Important! Depending on how much sauce you need, you can easily calculate the proportions of the main ingredients for bechamel. This is 1 part butter, 1 part flour and 10 milk. For example, if you take 40 g of butter and flour, then you will need 400 ml of milk. If you have a lot of sauce, you can store it in the refrigerator and reheat it before serving or using it.
Important! If you are unable to get the mixture without lumps, you can pass the sauce through a sieve or use a blender to mix.
Bechamel sauce is ready! Now you can add it to the layers of lasagna, and brush the top layer with sauce and sprinkle with grated cheese.
See also simple and quick recipe How to prepare bechamel sauce in our video:
If you are going to cook, you may be interested in other filling options, for example or. In summer, light is especially good -
Lasagna can rightfully be considered a signature Italian dish, which is not inferior to many other delights of this country. Nowadays, lasagna is considered to be an international dish, so it can also be prepared at home.
The main thing in the article
Lasagna is a baked dish consisting of several layers of filling lying on thinly rolled sheets of dough. Also essential components of this dish are various sauces and cheese, which covers the lasagna with an appetizing golden brown crust.
Stock up on the following products:
There is no need to run to the store for ready-made lasagna dough; you can prepare it in your kitchen without much effort.
To do this, take:
Using minced meat to make lasagna is quite popular. Most often, several types of minced meat are combined, for example, beef and pork. These types of meat will give the dish extraordinary juiciness.
This sauce contains, at a minimum, beef or pork meat, onions, carrots, tomatoes, and herbs. The dish turns out to be quite nutritious.
Bechamel sauce has a pronounced creamy taste and combines ingredients such as milk, butter, flour. It is not only used for lasagna, it is also served with a wide variety of European dishes. The standard recipe for bechamel sauce can be adjusted and improved with other products, obtaining your favorite taste of this sauce.
Ingredients for the sauce:
It must be remembered that the more milk you use, the thinner the sauce will be. Once the sauce cools, it will become thicker.
Start preparing the necessary components:
Be careful! Some types of lasagna sheets need to be boiled first. Therefore, carefully study the manufacturer's recommendations for preparation.
Stock up on the following products:
During preparation vegetable filling add a few tablespoons of cream to it - this will make it more juicy and acquire a delicate milky shade.
Such a delicious dish as lasagna has long become a decoration of the tables of not only Italian cuisine - it is prepared in many countries around the world. And if you decide to treat yourself to such a tasty treat, then the tips given will help you cope with this task.
1. Preparing the filling for lasagna - Finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Grate the carrots on a medium grater.
3. Remove the skin from the tomatoes (put the tomatoes in boiling water for 1-2 minutes, then easily remove the burst skin with a knife), grind the pulp in a blender or rub through a sieve.
4. Fry onions and garlic in a frying pan with the addition of vegetable oil.
5. Then add grated carrots.
6. Add minced meat to the fried vegetables, add salt and pepper and simmer until cooked (20-25 minutes).
7. Five minutes before readiness, add tomatoes to the minced meat.
8. Preparing Bechamel sauce- melt the butter.
9. Fry the flour in butter, stirring constantly, until golden brown.
10. Pour hot milk into the fried flour in a thin stream, mix well and bring to a boil. Season with salt and add nutmeg or garlic if desired. The finished Bechamel sauce should resemble liquid sour cream.
11. We continue to prepare Lasagna: Grate the cheese on a medium grater.
12. Place lasagna sheets on the bottom of a greased baking dish (here the dish is 20*30 cm, 5 cm high). If you use ready-made lasagna sheets, carefully read the instructions for them - you may need to boil them first!
13. Place half of the meat sauce on top of the lasagne sheets.
14. Pour over 1/3 of the Bechamel sauce.
15. Sprinkle with 0.5 parts of grated cheese.
16. Cover with lasagna sheets on top.
17. Add the remaining meat sauce.
19. Again a layer of grated cheese, this time pour out all the remaining cheese.
20. Lay out lasagne sheets.
21. And, using the remaining Bechamel sauce, pour over the surface of the lasagne.
22. Bake Lasagna in the oven for 40-45 minutes. at a temperature of 180 degrees. In 5-10 min. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese until done.
23. It will be very tasty if you serve tomato sauce with lasagna: Fry onions, carrots and garlic, add tomatoes, salt and pepper. Simmer for 20-25 minutes. Enjoy your meal!
How to prepare lasagne sheets:
We will need: flour, 3 eggs, 100 ml. milk and salt.
Sift the flour, add eggs, milk and salt. Knead the dough as for dumplings. For 30-40 minutes. place in a plastic bag, then the dough will become elastic and soft. Next, roll out the dough, cut it into rectangles and boil for 5 minutes. in boiling water with the addition of 2 tbsp. vegetable oil. Remove the finished dough, place on a napkin, and dry.
Lasagna, cooked with minced meat, came to us from Italian cuisine itself. Nowadays, this dish has become very popular in Russia, as well as. It's really impossible not to fall in love with her! And this love begins from the very first bite! It is assembled like a construction set. Layers of lasagne leaves alternate (in composition and taste, like any other pasta) with sauce and juicy minced meat, mainly Bechamel. There is her a large number of species. Well, today I want to cook, of course, one of the most popular types.
At the very first and honestly deceptive glance, this dish may seem complicated and time-consuming, I thought the same thing about. But in reality this is not at all the case. Because it’s easy to prepare, but it will take (well, what can you do) a little more time to prepare it than we would like. But I assure you, the time spent on it is worth it!
If you haven’t tried this dish yet, then it’s time to familiarize yourself with cooking lasagna with minced meat at home! So, the first thing you need to do is go to the supermarket and buy lasagne leaves. If for some reason this is difficult for you, then you can prepare them yourself at home.
If you love Italian cuisine, then you should know how to properly prepare such a dish. This recipe is simple in principle and is considered one of the most famous hearty meat dishes in the world.
Peel and cut the onion into half rings, lightly fry it on olive oil.
We install a meat grinder and make minced meat from the meat.
Place in a frying pan with the onions and cook over medium heat.
In order for the minced meat to brown evenly and not burn, you need to constantly stir it with a spatula and break up all the large lumps.
We make small cuts on the tomatoes as in the photo and pour boiling water for about five minutes.
Then remove the skins from them and grind them in a blender.
Pour basil, black pepper and salt to taste into the cooking meat and add chopped tomatoes. Continue simmering for 15 minutes.
Melt the butter in a cup on the stove, add the flour and whisk thoroughly with a whisk. And then lightly fry it.
Pour milk in small portions and mix vigorously, add nutmeg and salt.
The mixture should have a consistency similar to pancake batter.
Sift the flour into a bowl and beat in the egg. Knead the dough, you should get crumbs, which you pour onto a clean table and knead with your hands.
The result is a fairly elastic dough that needs to be wrapped in film and left for 30 minutes.
Now we need to cut it into strips, approximately into equal parts.
Grate the cheese on a fine grater and begin assembling the lasagna.
To do this, we need to take a suitable form with a high side, which we coat with bechamel sauce.
And lay out the leaves overlapping.
Spread the minced bolognese sauce on top in an even layer.
We thoroughly coat everything again with bechamel.
And sprinkle the whole mass with grated cheese.
We lay out the layers in the same order as we did the first time.
Wrap the pan in foil (be careful not to touch the cheese) and place in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 40 minutes. Then remove it and bake for another 10-15 minutes until done.
Remove the dish from the oven and leave to cool slightly.
Lasagne with minced meat classic recipe ready, cut into portions and serve.
First, fry the sifted flour over medium heat until light golden brown in a dry frying pan.
Add slightly melted butter there and keep it on the fire for about two minutes, stirring constantly with a spatula.
Then add spices: nutmeg, pepper and salt to taste. Let's languish a little more.
At the very end of cooking, add the bay leaf, close the pan with a lid, turn off the stove and let it brew for 10-15 minutes until done.
All that remains is to remove the bay leaf from the Bechamel sauce.
And whoever liked it, cook for your health.
Are you interested in this dish? In this case, this recipe will definitely come in handy. It turns out to be quite versatile and suitable for both a regular family dinner and a festive one.
Wash the chicken fillet, boil for 5 minutes, then cool it and cut it into small cubes.
Add here the chopped chicken fillet and pour in the cream.
Stir and simmer for five minutes, add seasonings, salt and pepper to taste.
Now take a suitable deep baking tray and grease it vegetable oil and pour Bechamel sauce into the bottom in an even thin layer, and lay lasagna sheets on top.
Apply the sauce again and place the filling of fried meat and mushrooms on it.
Sprinkle grated cheese on top.
Cover with lasagna. We repeat the next, upper layers in the same sequence. And we complete the formation of the dish by laying out sheets on which we apply Bechamel and sprinkle with cheese.
Place the filled baking sheet in an oven preheated to 180 degrees for 35-40 minutes until cooked.
Our dish is ready, let it cool a little and serve.
For lovers of such hearty and delicious dish This simple recipe will come in handy, it is prepared simply and quickly, and its taste is almost as good as the classic one.
Bring the minced meat over medium heat in a frying pan until golden brown, add salt and pepper.
Grate the cheese: parmesan on a fine grater, and mozzarella on a coarse grater.
Finely chop the garlic and fry it in olive oil, sprinkling it with chili pepper.
And pour the grated tomatoes into it. Add salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat for 12-15 minutes until the whole mass thickens.
The pita bread must be cut into four even pieces, each of them so that it is equal to the bottom of the baking sheet.
Grease the mold with oil and place one sheet of pita bread in it and coat it with tomato sauce.
Distribute half of the minced meat evenly on top and sprinkle with Parmesan. Place the next layer and do the same thing, only with mozzarella cheese.
We do this again in this sequence, and on the fourth we put the pita bread on it with tomato sauce and sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
Place the baking sheet in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30-35 minutes.
The dish is ready, eat to your health.
Bon appetit!!!
Studies