One of the most loved foods in the world is finally here! This is a beautiful Italian Lasagna with layers of slow cooked Ragù Bolognese and Besciamella cheese sauce. Though patience is required, it is quite straight forward to make as you will see in the recipe video!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Traditional Italian lasagna
Lasagna, lasagna. How I love thee! It is possibly one of the most loved foods in the whole wide world, and understandably so. There is just something so sentimental about lasagna, so comforting. It evokes images of of gatherings with family and friends all around the world. It is the sort of food that is like a big warm hug, and so more-ish you want to keep digging in until you burst.
Lasagna just rocks. Full stop.
And if you’ve never tried a homemade one before, that needs to change! If you can make spaghetti bolognese, you can make lasagne. It just requires a wee bit more patience.
OK, bit more than a wee bit more patience. But it’s totally worth it. A real homemade Lasagna is epic.
Homemade Lasagna – three parts
There are 3 components to making lasagna:
The meat sauce;
The white sauce – creamy and thick, but no cream required!
Assembling and baking.
What goes in lasagna
The Meat Sauce is basically just like Bolognese. You need:
Onion, garlic, carrot and celery – for the flavour base, a soffrito;
Beef
Canned tomato and tomato paste
Red wine – for extra flavour!
Seasonings – beef bouillon cubes (stock cubes), bay leaves, thyme, oregano, Worcestershire sauce
For the white sauce, you need:
butter
flour
milk
cheese
For assembling, you need:
lasagna sheets – preferably fresh (from the fridge section of grocery stores) but dried works just fine too
cheese!
How to make lasagne
See? I told you the meat sauce is just like making Bolognese! Though here, we cook that meat sauce long and slow, to develop incredible rich flavours and make the beef melt-in-your-mouth tender.
Layering up!
And here’s how you layer it up:
Smear a bit of meat sauce on the base first – stops the lasagna sheets from sliding around;
Layer 1 – top with meat sauce, bit of white sauce
Layer 2 – lay out more lasagna sheets, then top with more meat sauce and more white sauce
Layer 3 – repeat again, lasagna sheets, meat sauce then white sauce; and
Topping – cover with lasagna sheets, pour over remaining white sauce then sprinkle with cheese.
Pop it in the oven, and THIS is what comes out….
That moment when you cut into the golden bubbly cheesy top and you serve up a piping hot, oozy, meaty slice of lasagna….
That’s a little bit of food heaven, right there.
Lasagna first timers, the recipe video below will be super helpful. ❤️ Trust me, you got this. – Nagi xx
PS Also happens to be one of the nicest food gifts you can make for someone. Freezes 100% perfect, and is a huge step up from the usual simple casseroles. Right? 😉
Watch How To Make It
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Lasagna
Ingredients
Ragu Bolognese:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion , finely chopped (white, yellow or brown)
- 1 medium carrot , peeled and very finely diced
- 1 celery stick , very finely diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 kg / 2 lb beef mince (ground beef) (Note 1)
- 800g / 28 oz canned crushed tomato
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 1 cup pinot noir red wine , or other dry red wine (Note 2)
- 3 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled
- 2 bay leaves , dried or fresh
- 1/2 tsp EACH dried thyme and oregano
- 2 tsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 – 2 tsp sugar (if needed – Note 3)
- 1/2 tsp salt and black pepper
Cheese Sauce (Besciamella):
- 60g / 4 tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 cups milk , preferably full fat but low fat ok
- 2 cups gruyere or Colby cheese , shred yourself (or cheddar, Monterey Jack, OR 1 cup / 100g shredded parmesan) (Note 4)
- Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
- Salt and pepper
Lasagna:
- 350g/ 12 oz fresh lasagna sheets (or 250g/8oz dried) (Note 5)
- 1 1/2 cups (tightly packed) mozzarella cheese , shred yourself (Note 4)
- Finely chopped basil or parsley , for garnish (optional)
Instructions
Ragu:
- Heat oil in a large heavy based pot over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 10 minutes until softened and sweet – they should not brown (if they do, turn heat down).
- Add beef, turn heat up and cook the beef, breaking it up as you go.
- Once the beef has all turned brown, add the remaining Ragu ingredients EXCEPT the sugar.
- Stir then adjust the heat so it is bubbling very gently. Place the lid on and cook for 1.5 – 2 hours, stirring every now and then, then remove the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
- The ragu is ready when the meat is really tender and the sauce has thickened and is rich – see video for consistency (Note 6). Adjust salt and pepper to taste, and add sugar if required (Note 3)
Cheese Sauce:
- Warm milk up in a saucepan (optional – just makes sauce thicken faster).
- In a large saucepan, melt butter over medium low heat. Add flour and mix constantly for 1 minute.
- Pour about 1 cup of the milk in, mixing as you go to incorporate into the flour mixture. Once mostly lump free, add remaining milk. Use a whisk if needed to make it lump free.
- Turn heat up to medium high. Stir occasionally at first then regularly after a few minutes until sauce thickens – about 5 – 8 minutes. It should coat the back of the wooden spoon.
- Remove from heat, add cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix until the cheese is melted. The Sauce should be thick but still easily pourable – the consistency of heavy cream (you need to be able to drizzle it over the Ragu when layering – see video). If it’s too thick, add a splash of water or milk.
Assemble:
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F.
- Use a 33 x 22 x 7 cm / 13 x 9 x 2.5″ baking dish.
- Smear a bit of Ragu on the base, then cover with lasagna sheets. Tear sheets to fit.
- Spread over 2 1/2 cups of Ragu (enough to cover sheets), then drizzle over 1 cup of Cheese Sauce.
- Top with lasagna sheets (Note 7). Spread with another 2 1/2 cups of Ragu, then 1 cup of Cheese Sauce. Top with lasagna sheets then repeat 1 more time.
- Top with a 4th layer of lasagna sheets, then pour over the remaining Cheese Sauce.
- Sprinkle with Mozzarella, then bake for 25 minutes or until golden and bubbling.
- Stand for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting and serving, garnished with basil or parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life Of Dozer
He just sprawls across the floor when he sleeps. No curling up cutely, chin on paw, like all those cute doggy pics you see all over the internet. Nope, this one just collapses and sprawls out right in my line of path (straight line from kitchen to table is over him – of course).
Has anyone questioned the cooking time here? This is a large volume of food to be hot in the middle for the cooking time. Also barely fits the dish despite using the exact recipe and baking dish size.
Not sure I understand your question but the meat is cooked for over 2 hours, the final cooking time of 25 mins is to melt the cheese on top and heat through.
Hi Nagi, I want to make this for 6 people, but can you tell me what size dish to use please? The one in the recipe (33cm) I feel will be too big. Thank you. Donna
Another absolute winner!! I simmered the ragu for most of Sunday, cooled it down and then made extra cheese sauce and assembled and baked on Monday – holy toledo. SOOO good. Best recipe EVER!! Thank you Nagi 🙂 x
Who doesn’t love Lasagne? One of the Worlds fav dishes.
The only thing I add to Lasagne is a layer of chopped spinach in the middle to counter some of the richness of all the cheese. My expanding stomach will appreciate it. 🙂
This is a great recipe but I’m not sure why you included Worcestershire. Also, in Australia, the UK & Italy (!) it’s lasagne. Lasagna is the US spelling 🙂
This by far the most delicious lasagne I have ever made. I did make it with pork mince, and it was devine. I highly recommend it. Thank you Nagi.
I have had many lasagne recipes over the years all of which I made once and threw the recipe out. This one however is now a family favourite!! Thank you Nagi!!
Made this for Iftar this past Ramadan and it was my first time having a go at making Bechamel at home. Worked like a charm
Absolute taste sensation and made 4 lasagnas to share with friends who were fasting and they loved it. Thank you
Omg this was amazing. I made it gluten free and even my super fussy 2 year old was into it. Hubby said it was better than any lasagne he’d ever had at a restaurant. What an amazing recipe, thank you Nagi!
Even Italians ask me for the recipe. It is THE best lasagne recipe. Ever.
Thank you 🙏
Do you have a vegetarian substitute for the Worcestershire sauce and beef bouillons? I am going to try make this with impossible plant based meat 🙂
I’d add some dark soy sauce and a spash of balsamic vinegar for the worcestershire sauce sub. I agree with shane beef bouillon cubes are often vegetarian.
You could try making your own Worcestershire sauce and subbing out the anchovies for something with a complex flavour profile e.g. Miso.
Beef bullion – maybe try a plant based beef stock cube/powder. Mind you,, checking the ingredient list for my oxo beef stock cubes, I can’t see any “beef” listed, and it says “beef flavour” on the packet, so they might already be vego!
Yum! Packed full of flavour and easy to make with a little time. This is our go to lasagne recipe from now on. It was a hit with the whole family + left overs for the next day.
I stuffed my bechamel by leaving it on too long, it didn’t affect the taste though, it was delicious!
I made this and it was gorgeous
I had no red wine so used 1 tsp of red wine vinger and I used crushed tomatoes with basil and 100g parmesan in the cheese sauce. I will definitely be making it again
5/5 – new regular lasange recipe. I normally cook with a thermomix recipe however I’m on holidays and am cooking old school. Of course had to check out Nagi because she never fails! I made without wine but it was hands down the best lasange I’ve made. The flavours are next level! Will def be the go to recipe going forward
I only get three layers of lasagna sheets not four. I followed the recipe exactly but can only get three layers. What am I doing wrong, if anything? Have used the exact size dish.
I buy the 8 fresh lasagne sheet packs, and I make sure I only use 2 sheets per layer. That way 2 sheets per layer = 8 sheets. So maybe your baking tray is too big and maybe needs to be a bit smaller to enable you to only use 2 sheets/layer?
I always add another 500g of mince to bulk it up enough to get the extra layer as I had the same problem when I first made this.
I’ll say that I’m one of those people who hated lasagna (I’m sorry), but I really REALLY wanted to like it, and I’ve made it in a dozen different ways. The only lasagna I’ve been able to eat is Stouffer’s frozen lasagna, which is just shameful. Thanks to your recipe, I’ve finally found a great lasagna that I actually enjoy!
This recipe was a huge hit with my adult kids and picky grandkids. Absolutely delicious. Probably the best lasagna I’ve made. While I followed the recipe very closely, I made the Bechamel sauce GF by using corn starch. Most of the recipe was made with fresh pasta. I eat GF so made a separate small dish using eggplant in lieu of pasta. Delicious. Love your cookbooks!!!
Hi Cathy, I made this tonight for dinner using the fresh gf lasagne sheets from the fridge section in woolies. It was amazing!
Big success!
One word…. STUNNING!!
Thank you Nagi x