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ExpatAkronite

Cascadia Subduction Zone
In light of the cottage cheese thread (on lasagne? Can't quite imagine that)...Lasagne Bolognese is my signature dish and I've been making it and tweeking it for damn near 40 years. Firstly, lasagna is singular and as the dish is layered the proper nomenclature is lasagne (layers of lasagna make a lasagne); and secondly if there is ricotta cheese involved it is a southern Italian dish (and as most Italian-americans were from the south it is easy to see why that version is so popular) and very different from the northern dish from Emilia-Romagna...which is--in the culinary world anyways--the classic recipe.

It is thin sheets of fresh pasta, besciamella (bechamel/white sauce), bolognese/ragu (meat not tomato sauce) and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (no mozz).

Mostly, my variations have been with the bolognese (tomato or no tomato). Classically, it it celery, carrot, onion and ground pork, veal, lamb with chicken livers and pancetta (sauteed in butter, maybe a splash of EVO). And nutmeg and a bay leaf or two. If i use tomatoes it is either some fresh Roma or a can of San Marzano. Simmer at least a few hours. Sometimes i let it sit in the frig overnight. Often I add red wine (not cooking if you're not drinking) and sometimes heavy cream. More often than not I just use ground pork and pancetta. i always make enough that there's some to throw over spag so we end up getting 2-3 nights of meals out of it.

Traditionally, this is one of the few pastas not prepared al dente--the thin sheets of pasta melt into the dish almost like the cheese. Since fresh pasta is a pain to make (and buying is hit or miss) i mostly use the no bake sheets as a compromise (the boiled lasagna is fine for the southern version and is what my wife will use for her spinach/ricotta lasagna. i find the no bake pasta a better compromise for fresh).

You're nonna may not think this is lasagne but in the north they would never use ricotta either--and certainly not garlic. The north and south in Italy are dramatically different.

And like a lot of things Italian/Roman it was a Greek idea anyways.8D
Salute. (grabbed the photo from epicurious--pretty close to what i generally crank out)

51193620_lasagne-bolognese_1x1.jpg
 
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