Lasagna

Ingredients

• Bolognese sauce
  • 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1-inch pieces are fine)
  • 1 large or 2 slim carrots, coarsely chopped
  • 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds ground chuck, brisket or round or combination
  • 1 1/4 cups tomato paste (from 2 6-ounce cans)
  • 2 cups red wine, preferably hearty but really, anything you like to drink
  • Water as needed
  • 2 bay leaves
  • A few sprigs thyme, tied in a bundle
• Béchamel sauce
  • 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon table salt
  • 1 clove minced garlic
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper
• To assemble
  • 1 2/3 cups grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Make the bolognese sauce
   1. In a food processor, pulse onion, carrots, celery, and garlic until finely chopped. Heat a moderate-sized Dutch oven (4 to 5 quarts) over medium-high heat. Once hot, coat the bottom of the pan with two to three tablespoons of oil. Once it is hot, add the chopped vegetables and season them generously with salt and pepper. Cook the vegetables until they are evenly brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
   2. Add the ground beef and seasoning again with salt and pepper. Brown the beef well and again, don’t rush this step. Cook for another 15 minutes. Drain beef. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the red wine, using it to scrape up any stuck bits in the pan. Cook the wine until it has reduced by half, about 5 more minutes. Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat. Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything, bringing it to a low simmer.
   3. Here’s how the next 3 to 4 hours will go: You’ll keep a pitcher of water near the stove. You’ll stir the sauce from time to time. As the water in the sauce cooks off, you’ll want to add more but you don’t want to add more than 1 to 2 cups at a time or you’ll have boiled meat sauce (bleh) rather than something thick and robust with flavor. Taste it from time to time and add more seasoning if needed. Simmer for 3 to 4 hours.
   4. Make sure you have 4 cups of sauce for the lasagna; the rest can be reserved/frozen.
2. Make your béchamel
   1. Melt your butter in the bottom of a medium-to-large saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add your flour and stir it into the butter until smooth. Cook the mixture together for a minute, stirring constantly. Pour in a small drizzle of your milk, whisking constantly into the butter-flour mixture until smooth. Continue to drizzle a very small amount at a time, whisking constantly. Once you’ve added a little over half of your milk, you’ll find that you have more of a thick sauce or batter, and you can start adding the milk in larger splashes, being sure to keep mixing. Once all of the milk is added, add the salt, garlic, nutmeg (if using) and few grinds of black pepper, and bring the mixture to a lower simmer and cook it, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed.
3. At last, you may assemble your dish:
   1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a 9×13-inch or equivalent rectangular baking dish, spread a generous 1/4 cup of the béchamel. I mostly use this to keep the noodles from sticking. Add your first layer of cooked noodles, patching and slightly overlapping them however is needed to form a single layer. ***Actually measure these sauce amounts in each layer****. Ladle 1 cup bolognese sauce over the noodles, spreading it evenly. Drizzle 1/2 cup béchamel over the bolognese; don’t worry about getting it perfectly smooth or even. Sprinkle the layer with 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Repeat this process — pasta + 1 cup bolognese + 1/2 cup béchamel + 1/3 cup parmesan — three more times, then add one more layer of pasta. You’ll use 5 layers of pasta total.
   2. First spread 1/4 cup béchamel over the top layer of pasta before sprinkling it with the remaining cheese.
   3. Bake your lasagna for 30 to 45 minutes, until bubbly all over and browned on top. You should do absolutely nothing but put your feet up and drink a glass of wine while you do; you’ve earned it. When it comes out of the oven, I like to let it rest for 10 minutes before serving it.