Lasagna (or is it Lasagne?) and Béchamel Sauce

Yesterday was Mike's birthday and last night we had a few family members over to celebrate. I celebrated the day by spending the entire day making lasagna. No, I'm not exaggerating. It was the entire day. I did manage to do a few other things like laundry and vacuuming but it was done around the lasagna making.

I made two lasagnas, one with a Bolognese meat sauce using this recipe from Marcella Hazan's Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and another meatless lasagna that was loosely based on the Bolognese meat sauce but using mushrooms instead of meat. The meat sauce was supposed to be simmered for a minimum of three hours, preferably longer. I ended up simmering it about five hours. The mushroom sauce did not cook anywhere near as long but it also had to cook down a good long time. And I made my own lasagna noodles.

Both lasagnas were very good although I wasn't ecstatic over either of them. For one thing, I was trying to achieve something with more layers of pasta but my filling didn't spread far enough. I also wasn't that crazy about the meat sauce although it may just be that I'm generally not crazy about meat sauces.

My ultimate lasagne is the one I first read about last year in Marcella Says.... "...true Bolognese-style lasagne whose several layers of paper thin homemade pasta bear a filling judiciously composed of a minimum number of ingredients."  And about which she says: "...what makes lasagne a triumph of Bolognese pasta mastery is the ephemeral lightness of the dough building up to many layers of nearly impalpable pasta interleavened by equally thin layers of luscious, but not overbearing filling."  Doesn't that sound better than those big heavy cheese and meat sauce things that lasagne usually are? Yes, lasagne. I've now, mid-post, adopted Marcella Hazan's spelling.

A total aside: One of the things I love about Marcella Hazan is her very formal, old-fashioned way with words. For instance, when writing about mushrooms she says, "When you cook several kinds together you are rewarded with a levitation of flavor that surpasses what any single variety, even the most savory, can produce alone."  Or when writing about béchamel sauce: "It is a marvelous part of the cooking of vegetables to which it bestows a marvelous succulence." I have read that she does all her writing in Italian, in long hand, and this is then translated to English by her husband.

Anyway, that idea of lasagne being many, many thin layers of pasta was completely new to me but I have since read about it here and here. The idea of a lasagne made without mozzarella and ricotta is also relatively new to me. My sister-in-law Diane makes an awesome vegetarian lasagne with bechamel but without ricotta and mozzarella and her lasagne is a revelation -- feather-light.  The two lasagnes I made yesterday had no cheese other than Parmigiano Reggiano. Each layer of pasta was topped by filling, béchamel, and then a dusting of grated Parmigiano Reggiano. This was the béchamel recipe I used from Marcella Says.... 

Marcella Hazan's Basic Béchamel Sauce

(makes about 1 2/3 cup miedium-thick béchamel)

2 cups whole milk

4 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Pour the milk into a saucepan, turn the heat on to medium low, and bring the milk just to the verge of boiling, when it begins to form a ring of pearly bubbles.

2. While the milk heats, put the butter in a heavy bottomed 4 to 6 cup saucepan, and turn the heat to low. When the butter has melted completely, add all the flour, stirring it in with a wooden spoon. Cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Do not allow the flour to become colored or the béchamel will taste bitter. Remove from the heat.

3. Off heat, add 2 tablespoons of hot milk to the flour and butter mixture, and stir until incorporated. Repeat this procedure until you have used 1/2 cup of milk. Continue to add milk, now at 1/2 cup at a time, thoroughly stirring until incorporated after each addition. (Or in Marcella's words: "Stirring steadfastly, until you have smoothly amalgamated all the milk with the butter and flour.") Adding the liquid off heat will help prevent lumps from forming.

4. Return the pan to low heat, add the salt, and continue to stir without stopping until the sauce is as "dense as thick cream."  If you find any lumps, beat the sauce rapidly with a whisk.

Marcella Hazan says that these quantities can be doubled or tripled but a single batch should not be increased by more than that. Use a pan that is wider than it is high which will help the sauce cook more quickly and evenly.

Lasagne has many advantages, particularly for entertaining. It can be completely assembled ahead of time; it is the sort of thing that can be endlessly varied; it's rich enough that a meal of lasagne really requires no dessert other than fresh fruit; people seem to really enjoy lasagne; lasagne does not have to be a high-calorie high-fat affair. In addition, lasagne is a wonderful way to feed a crowd, plus lasagne makes wonderful leftovers. All things that make experimenting in order to find the ultimate lasagne recipe a worthwhile project.

One final thing: I notice that used copies of Marcella Says....  are selling on Amazon for $1.50 and even after spending $3.50 for shipping you still have a wonderful book for barely more than the price of a cooking magazine. While it's not as good as Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking which is a masterpiece, it's still a very worthwhile book that I highly recommend, particularly at such a bargain price.

Comments

[William Burkhamer]

Pasta, Sauce, Meat, Cheese -- any combination of that works for me.

[Scott at RealEpicurean]

Lasagne is probably one of the ultimate comfort foods for me. I guess I'm like Garfield in that respect.

[Miz S]

Yo, why you gotta be disrespectin a sistah? Why I ain't rollin' wit da crew? That ain't right, yo.

[Anita]

Happy Birthday to Mike too. I too have been meaning to try the thin noodle lasagne that I read about some time back. That may make the husband change his mind about this dish as well.
I like mine with the usual mozzarella, ricotta and spinach.

[Anne]

I admire anyone who makes her own pasta noodles! I remember reading about "the ultimate" lasagna cookbook somewhere. I tried to look it up to link you to it but I can't find it. Anyway, I do remember something about freezing lasagne. (I'm adapted Marcella's spelling in reverence to your post.) It said you should cook it halfway, let it cool, then freeze it. Something about the flavors melding better. I tried it and it did yield a tasty lasagna. (Spelled the American way b/c I used dried noodles.)

[Rebecca]

The first time I ever experienced a lasagne that varied from the stringy mozzarella, etc. version was when I tried the recipe from "From Julia Child's Kitchen" which used bechamel sauce and a really delicious tomato sauce, back in the 70s. I think she calls for optional mozzarella, but it opened my eyes to other ways of making this dish. My current favorite lasagne is the one made with butternut squash and hazelnuts in the new Gourmet Cookbook. It uses the no-boil noodles, and I think they are thinner than the traditional dried ones. It's also made with bechamel sauce, and some, but not much, fresh mozzarella. It's really terrific, very light.

[Julie O'Hara]

That's a great photo. I'll experiment with veggies and different meats and cheese, but the classic lasagna is always just perfect.

[zp]

I've never, nowhere, nohow, not at home, not at a restaurant had the lots of thin melting noodles kind of lasagne in the states. I've pretty much given up. Yours looks pretty close though!

Rebecca, I too like the new recipes for butternut squash lasagne. I have no luck with no-boil noodles, but I find that something about the squash ricotta (no mozz) combo in my recipe (or the cooking time or something) makes the noodles in this recipe more delicate than the same exact noodles prepared in red lasagne recipes.

Finally, notes on some sauces, mushroom not meat sauce and what I guess I have to call "bechamel" even though it's totally not. I make mushroom moussaka from the old Moosewood cookbook a lot. It has a great mushroom not meat sauce that I prefer to any meat sauce I've ever had in the states . . . And when I make the "bechamel" that goes with that recipe I use olive oil. It tastes great. Of course that "bechamel" recipe calls for parm cheese . . . and I sometimes add some feta and a clove of garlic so you see it is not really bechamel at all . . .

[sher]

Ahhh--that looks wonderful!!! It's similar to what my mom made. People were always surprised when she put bechamel sauce on it. But, they loved it.

Here in Sacramento, there is a wonderful restaurant called Biba which makes a lasagna with paper thin layers of pasta. It's mindblowingly delicious.

[the bee]

This looks so good. I think I will try this on dad this week as mom is having her knee replaced and dad needs comfort food . Your brownies were so good that I served them to company this weekend . Keep the comfort food coming !!! xxx000- bee

[blue plate]

the best lasagna is homemade—your lasagna looks sooooo good!

[angela]

Oh I know all about the paper thin lasagna with many layers. I have made it several times, but have only had the "prefect lasagna" once and it does make all the difference in the world. I like pasta dishes because they can be light if the right sauce is used. After I had the "perfect lasagna" all others tasted like bad immitations-mine included.

[angela]

Oh I know all about the paper thin lasagna with many layers. I have made it several times, but have only had the "prefect lasagna" once and it does make all the difference in the world. I like pasta dishes because they can be light if the right sauce is used. After I had the "perfect lasagna" all others tasted like bad immitations-mine included.

[angela]

Oh I know all about the paper thin lasagna with many layers. I have made it several times, but have only had the "prefect lasagna" once and it does make all the difference in the world. I like pasta dishes because they can be light if the right sauce is used. After I had the "perfect lasagna" all others tasted like bad immitations-mine included.

[angela]

Sorry about posting three times. I feel pretty passionate about lasagna, but not THAT passionate.

[Nicola]

Julie...lasagne is food's equivalent of being wrapped in a blanket and slowly deliciously giving in to sleep...thought i'd forward this link to an unusual lasagne recipe that looks interesting, and since we seem to have similar taste, I thought you'd like it... http://www.lcbo.com/lcbo-ear/RecipeController?action=recipe&language=1&recipeID=907&recipeType=1

happy belated to mike!

[Andrea]

I came back from Italy having a new appreciation for the lasagna with bechamel. So I too did Marcella's recipe. I had the same results as you -- my sauce and bechamel didn't stretch out as far as it should have. And there were far far too many layers of noodles. Next time, more sauce and less noodles.

[bernadette]

It looks and sounds scrumptious, Julie!

Perhaps you ignore Miz S at your own peril. A saucepan of Béchamel sauce might help her simmer down.

[matt]

Lasagne is plural for lasagna.

[Julie]

Matt, who knew it was such a simple answer? Obviously not me. Thanks.

[Andree.sandahl2@gmail.com]

my favorite method for lasagna is/was on a box of Barilla lasagne noodles purchased in Playa del Carmen MX. It instructs you to layer noodle, meat sauce (Bolognese) noodle, bechamel/parm... repeat. top with white sauce and parm. absolutely my favorite.