Description
A recipe from my home in Emilia-Romagna, Italy; this lasagna made with spinach pasta cannot be beat. It’s excellent if you want to impress some guests, or even yourself. It may be a bit time consuming, but it’s well worth the TLC you put into it.
Ingredients
- 5 ounces spinach – rinsed, stemmed, and dried
- 2 eggs
- ⅝ cup semolina flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 slices bacon, diced
- 1 carrot, diced
- 1 stalk celery, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 3 ½ ounces lean ground pork
- 3 ½ ounces lean ground beef
- 3 ½ ounces minced ham
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup beef stock
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 ½ ounces chicken livers, trimmed and chopped
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups warm milk
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch ground nutmeg
- 1 ⅔ cups grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 pint ricotta cheese
- 3 tablespoons butter
Instructions
- For the pasta dough: Steam the spinach in a steamer or over boiling water until bright green
- 2 minutes. Squeeze to remove excess moisture and process in a food processor to make a paste. Combine spinach with eggs
- semolina
- and salt and process until smooth. Stir in enough of the flour to make a smooth dough. Knead briefly
- cover and set aside.
- For the ragu: In a large skillet
- melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute bacon
- carrot
- celery and onion until onion is translucent. Stir in ground pork
- ground beef and minced ham
- and cook until browned. Stir in tomato paste
- oregano and beef stock. (Reserve the chicken livers for later.) Season with salt and pepper
- reduce heat to low
- cover and simmer 20 minutes.
- For the bechamel: While the ragu is simmering
- combine 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons flour in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk to make a roux. Remove from heat
- let rest one minute
- then whisk in warm milk. Return to heat
- simmer 10 minutes
- stirring constantly
- until thickened. Season with salt and nutmeg. Remove from heat.
- To cook pasta: Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. On a floured surface
- divide pasta dough into three portions. Roll each portion out to a thin sheet. Have ready an ice water bath. Cook each sheet 3 minutes in the boiling water; remove from the boiling water and dip in the ice water; drain and dry on a clean
- dry cloth.
- To finish the ragu: Stir the chicken livers into the simmering sauce. Cook 1 minute
- remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- To assemble lasagna: Place one pasta sheet in bottom of prepared baking dish. Spread one-third of the ragu
- one-quarter of the bechamel
- one-third of the ricotta
- and one-quarter of the parmesan over the pasta. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining bechamel and parmesan and dot with butter.
- Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes
- until top is golden brown.
Prep Time: 1 hr
Cook Time: 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Servings: 8