Recipe #24: Beef and Pork (and Bacon and Chorizo) Ragù Lasagna

Courtesy of http://www.finecooking.com/

Oh, man, do I LOVE lasagna. And OH, MAN! Was this lasagna ever good! It was our turn to host our monthly family dinners, and it also happened to fall on the weekend of my birthday (way back in June that is…), so what did the birthday girl want for dinner? I wanted lasagna. Mainly I chose this dish because it serves a lot of people and I can prepare it ahead of time, so that when my guests arrive, I can spend time visiting and not cooking.

Now, there are tons of recipes out there for lasagna, and all of them will vary with ingredients and directions, etc. So what makes one better than another? For me, this one had me at the meat (refer to previous post about us eating more vegetables and less meat). Ok, the original recipe didn’t include chorizo; I chose to add that myself, but the combination of pork and beef was something I had wanted to try.

I should alert you, however, that should you chose to attempt this recipe, leave yourself plenty of time. The sauce alone should simmer for about three hours.  I made mine on the day before, and after everything is in the pot, it just simmered away. Personally, the longer the better, as the sauce thickens up and all the flavours meld together. And since this did make a big batch, I had leftovers to bring to work one week – for myself and three colleagues. I think we’re going to have a lasagna-off in the near future to see who makes the best one. I’ll be pulling out this recipe for sure. It doesn’t need to be my birthday to enjoy this tasty dish.

INGREDIENTS:

3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2 medium celery stalks, finely chopped (1-1/3 cups)

2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (2/3 cup)

2 small yellow onions, finely chopped (1-1/3 cups)

1 lb. boneless beef chuck, finely diced or ground

1 lb. boneless pork shoulder, finely diced or ground

3 - 4 strips of bacon, diced

1-2 chorizo sausages, casings removed

2 cups dry red wine

1/2 cup canned tomato purée

1/4 cup tomato paste diluted in 1/2 cup water

2 cups homemade or low-salt canned beef or chicken broth; more as needed

1 cup whole milk

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

3/4 lb. lasagne noodles

1/2 oz. (1 Tbs.) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes, plus more for the pan

1 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

DIRECTIONS FOR RAGU:

In a 5- to 6-qt. Dutch oven or large pot, brown the bacon until slightly crispy. Keeping the bacon drippings, add  6 Tbs. butter and melt over medium heat. Add the celery, carrots, and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden, about 15 minutes. Add the beef, pork and chorizo and cook, breaking up the meats with a spoon and stirring often, until the meats lose their redness, 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in the wine, tomato purée, and tomato paste and simmer vigorously until the liquid is almost evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Add the beef or chicken broth and the milk, cover with the lid ajar, reduce the heat to low, and simmer gently until you have a rich, concentrated sauce, about 2-1/2 hours. Check every 30 minutes to see if more liquid is needed, adding more broth if necessary to prevent scorching. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if needed. Let cool. Skim off the fat from the top, if desired. You should have about 6 cups. (At this point, you can refrigerate.)

COOK THE NOODLES:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Prepare a large bowl of ice water. Slip the noodles, two or three at a time, into the boiling water and cook them until they're tender and pale, 3 to 5 minutes (thinner noodles will cook more quickly). To make sure they're done, taste a small piece. If it's still tough, it needs a little more cooking (fresh pasta should not be cooked al dente like dried pasta).

Carefully scoop the noodles out of the water with a large wire skimmer and slide them into the ice water to stop the cooking. When they're cool, layer them between clean dish towels until you're ready to assemble the lasagne (they'll keep this way for up to two hours).

ASSEMBLE THE LASAGNA:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Choose a baking dish that’s about 9x12 inches and 3 inches deep, or about 10x14 inches and 2 inches deep. Butter the baking dish. Spread 1/2 cup of ragù in a sparse layer on the bottom of the dish. Then cover with a slightly overlapping layer of cooked noodles, cutting them as needed to fill the gaps. Spread one-third of the remaining ragù (about 1-1/2 cups) over the first layer of noodles. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup Parmigiano. Add a new layer of noodles, overlapping them slightly.

Repeat the layers as instructed above, until all of the filling ingredients are used, to make a total of three layers (you may not need all the pasta). Dot the top with the butter cubes.

Put the baking dish on a baking sheet and bake until heated through and bubbling at the edges, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.