NOTE: this recipe requires the preparation of besciamela sauce and Bolognese ragu. The latter can be made ahead, if desired.
This is the best, most elegant lasagne recipe I've made. It's a recipe from some magazine or other (I no longer remember, and I couldn't track it down). This is prettier, more flavorful, more pasta-focused and less ... well, bloated than most you'll try. I'm all in favor of the gooey, cheesey, ricotta-loaded lasagnes, where the noodles are just a architectural element supporting cheese and sauce, and I've been known (long in the past) to make some awesome versions, as they go. But give me this any day...
It's fun to make the pasta fresh. We have a pasta roller attachment for our KitchenAid mixer. Our results on this recipe tend to be an extremely pretty pasta, with flecks of green from the spinach rather than a green-colored pasta, and we prefer it that way. It just looks more rustic and natural, at least in this dish.
Obviously, you could buy your pasta noodles rather than make them. If you do, try to get fresh lasagna noodles (spinach if you can) rather than the dry, boxed ones.
INGREDIENTS
1 cup tightly packed spinach (about 4 ounces)
1 tablespoon sea salt
OR 6 ounces frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed very dry and chopped very fine
4 extra-large eggs
3½ to 4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup for dusting the work surface
½ teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 recipe Bolognese ragu, from separate recipe
8 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, for grating
DIRECTIONS
Prepare the spinach (if using fresh spinach):
To prepare the spinach, bring 3 quarts of water with 1 tablespoon sea salt to a boil and set up an ice bath next to the stove. Blanch the spinach leaves in the boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove with a slotted spoon or spider and immediately plunge into the ice bath to cool.
Once cool, squeeze out the excess water using a strainer. Then place onto a kitchen towel and twist to remove as much moisture as possible.
Prepare the pasta:
Combine eggs and spinach. Mound 3½ cups of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the egg and spinach mixture and the olive oil. Using a fork, beat together the spinach, eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well.
As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up from the base of the mound to retain the well shape. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated.
Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up and discard any leftover bits. Lightly reflour the board and continue kneading for 6 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Divide the dough into 3 equal portions and roll each out to the thinnest setting on a pasta rolling machine.
Bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons salt. Set up an ice bath next to the stove top. Cut the pasta into 20 (5-inch) squares and drop into the boiling water. Cook 1 minute, until tender. Drain well and refresh in the ice bath. Drain on towels and set aside.
Assemble the lasagne:
Preheat the oven to 375°F. In a brownie pan, assemble the lasagne, beginning with a layer of ragu, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano, a layer of pasta, a layer of bechamel, a layer of ragu, a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano etc. until all sauce and pasta are used up. The top layer should be pasta with bechamel over it. Top the lasagne with grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake in the oven for 30 to 45 minutes, until the edges are browned and the sauces are bubbling. Remove and allow to cool for 10 minutes before slicing.
MAKE AHEAD
Though the fresher the better, you can prepare the pasta a day or two ahead and keep it, refrigerated in plastic wrap, after lightly dusting it with flour to keep it from sticking together. The ragu Bolognese can also be prepared ahead.
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