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Lasagna Bolognese
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In Bologna, ragù Bolognese is a silky, rich meat sauce to serve over pasta or polenta. Married to creamy besciamella (the Italian version of French béchamel sauce), it makes a terrific lasagna. We also pair it with tagliatelle. Our take on lasagna Bolognese was inspired by a version we ate at Osteria Broccaindosso in Bologna. We liked Barilla oven-ready lasagna noodles for this recipe, preferring them even over fresh sheet pasta. Both the ragù and the besciamella should be warm for lasagna assembly; the ragù reheats well in a large saucepan over medium and the besciamella can be microwaved in a covered 1-quart liquid measuring cup or medium microwave-safe bowl. A serrated knife is best for cutting the lasagna for serving.
8-10
Servings
Tip
Don’t use the noodles without first soaking them. Unsoaked noodles absorb moisture from both the ragù and besciamella, leaving the lasagna too dry. But don’t soak them for longer than 10 minutes.
1 hour 20 minutes (20 minutes active)
Plus cooling
12 no-boil 6½-by-3½-inch lasagna noodles (see note)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
6 cups ragù Bolognese, warmed (see recipe)
3 cups Parmesan besciamella, warmed (see recipe)
Finely grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Ingredients
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12
no-boil 6½-by-3½-inch lasagna noodles (see note)
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1
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
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Kosher salt
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6
cups ragù Bolognese, warmed (see recipe)
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3
cups Parmesan besciamella, warmed (see recipe)
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Finely grated Parmesan cheese, to serve
Recipe
Ragù Bolognese
Recipe
Parmesan Besciamella
Directions
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01Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the middle position. Place the noodles in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, then add hot water (about 140°F) to cover, along with the oil and 1½ teaspoons salt; swish the noodles around to dissolve the salt. Let stand for 10 minutes, moving the noodles around halfway through to ensure they do not stick together.
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02Remove the noodles from the water and arrange in a single layer on a kitchen towel; pat dry with paper towels. Wipe out the baking dish. Distribute 2 cups ragù evenly in the baking dish, then place 3 noodles in a single layer on top. Spread ¼ cup besciamella onto each noodle, all the way to the edges. Pour 1 cup ragù on top and spread evenly. Repeat the layering 3 more times, using the remaining noodles, besciamella and ragù, then cover the baking dish tightly with foil.
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03Bake until the edges of the lasagna are bubbling, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack, uncover and cool for about 30 minutes. Cut into pieces and serve sprinkled with Parmesan.
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Reviews
December 28, 2022
Best Lasagna Ever!
I have made this several times and loved it. At my son’s suggestion, I added an additional two layers of pasta this last time. There was plenty of bolognese and bechamel so it was no problem. Loved it even more with the extra layers!
December 23, 2022
Fantastic
Silky luscious and simply outstanding
August 29, 2022
Fabulous!
This was fantastic! I tripled the Ragu and probably should not have tripled the liquids(except for the wine of course!). It was watery, so I just strained it through a colander, and problem solved. I had a tad of white sauce left and put it on scrambled eggs the next morning. Pure heaven!
August 7, 2022
Fantastic Bechamele and Bolognese
What a wonderful recipe. I made this after watching it on your television program. I have traveled to Europe a multitude of times as a chaperone on high school senior trips and make it a mission to replicate some of the best meals we experience. My adjustments to this recipe: I used ground lamb and ground bison for the meat in the bolognese. I warmed the milk before adding to the roux and added nutmeg and tempered 3 eggs with bechamel to incorporate into the sauce. Lightest, best lasagna, ever! No more ricotta!I also did not strain the bechamel, but just fished out the bay leaves!
Mine is in the oven. Three packets of gelatine make 2 tbs. And it says to use all the noodles, sauce & besciamella, but there was over 1/2 of the besciamella left, so I just covered the top with the 3x 1/4 cups and rest of the sauce. Was I suppose to dump in all the left over besciamella??? It would have been swimming in it.
Hi Chris,
Our Recipe Developer, Julia Rackow says you did the right thing. There could be many different factors at play with why you ended up with extra sauce, but you only needed 1/4 cup per layer. Next time save the extra and spoon it over roasted vegetables!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I made this yesterday. It was the best lasagna I ever had but when I cut into it, it had alot of liquid in it. I will be making this again as it was delicious. Not sure what I did wrong and had so much liquid.
I made this for dinner tonight—it is just so good! I was very skeptical about the no boil noodles but worked perfectly!!! I made two very minor (I think) changes. Rather then puree the whole tomatoes, I used Mutti puree (glass bottles, so it tastes very fresh), and my family doesn’t like red pepper flakes so I put in a bit of cayenne for the heat. My besciamella was like velvet so I saw no reason to strain it and just pulled out the bay & basil. Thanks, Milk Street! Well worth tge time!
The bolognese sauce was fantastic, but the lasagna was terrible. Used the pasta noodles as suggested by the directions. The noodles turned to mush, tried it again with regular lasagna noodles that a pre boiled and it was fantastic.
Thank you for this outstanding recipe! This was the best lasagna I’ve ever had. It was not terribly complicated to make and the simple flavors stood out in the rich sauce, contrasted with the smooth, creamy, bay-hinted bechamel. I plan to make this again and will ask my butcher to grind the meat for more ease/time savings. Excellent!!!
Well, I guess I found my new lasagna recipe! I always hated lasagna due to both its texture and heaviness. Eliminating the mozzarella and ricotta and replacing with a besciamella was the trick to improved texture and weight! Two things: make sure your bolognese sauce isn't watery and that your besciamella is properly thickened.
We mage this last night for out Christmas Eve dinner and wow - this in an incredible lasagna recipe. The ragu takes some time but it’s mostly just simmering. I only used one packet of gelatin and it does make the sauce silky smooth.
The white sauce is a DELICIOUS concoction- the essence of bay and basil leaves is quite unique.
My pan was a little smaller than the recommended size so my four layers were slightly taller than the video so I went the full hour. Do not skip the thirty minute rest time; it makes it easier to serve and it doesn’t turn into a pool of lasagna - it maintains its shape after resting.
I won’t make lasagna any other way. Next time I may add some chopped mushrooms to the white sauce.
Scott W.
Michigan
This was our Christmas dinner meal. I usually don’t try new recipes on special occasions, you want the meal to be delicious. This is the tastiest lasagna I have ever eaten, better than our local, landmark Italian restaurant. I made the rage two days in advance and stored in the fridge, in the Dutch oven. It is a lengthy process, but well worth the time and effort. I wonder if the lasagna can be prepared a day in advance, then baked. Also if I were to freeze, should I cook first, then freeze. I also made the German Apple Cake, another winning recipe.
Linda - I'm glad you enjoyed it! While the lasagna can be prepared a day ahead and then baked, our recommendation for the best results is to prepare all the ingredients and then construct just before it goes into the oven, in order to ensure that the noodles don't over-absorb liquid from the two sauces, resulting in bloated noodles and a dry-feeling lasagna.
For freezing, you'll want to freeze after constructing, but before cooking. Something to keep in mind if you are freezing the lasagna is that, though you will want to put everything together while the ragù and besciamella are warm so that they spread evenly without clumping, the lasagna should be fully cool before going into the freezer in order to reduce the risk of freezerburn. Ideally, compose the lasagna, let it cool to room temperature, then let it spend at least a few hours uncovered in the fridge, before tightly covering in aluminum foil and putting into the freezer. To reheat, first defrost the lasagna in the fridge overnight. The next day, pull the lasagna out when you start preheating your oven so it can warm up a bit. Bake as instructed above - until the edges are bubbling - but also use a thermometer to ensure the middle of the lasagna is warmed through; your thermometer should read at least 175°F.
Best,
The Milk Street Team
I had been eyeing the recipe for a long time before finally making it. I made the ragu the day before and served it with home-made tagliatelle (I was feeling ambitious this week). I made the lasagna exactly as instructed the next day (for a change, I normally measure only for baking). It surely paid off. I hadn’t made lasagna in many years, but it was so good my husband and I had trouble stopping eating. I would never think of serving lasagna to dinner guests, but I’ll make it next time I can have guests (after the pandemic), just to show how good lasagna can be.
I'll pile on because it is just so freaking good. The comments I rec'd from people who are amazing cooks solidified my feelings. I've never made a dish where someone said in astonishment, this is the best thing I've ever eaten! Take your time and do it over a couple of days and the reward will be astonishing. Oh, thoughts on making the whole lasagna and cooking the next day and can I freezing leftovers (if there ever are any) please. Cheers to Milk Street!
Was very excited to try this - made it per the directions - we thought it was good to very good lasagna, but not outstanding. The lasagna/sauce might have benefited from more tomato flavor. With the leftover bolognese sauce, I’m going to add another can of tomatoes to it and try that over pasta and see if that improves the sauce. And, the lack of cheese flavor made the lasagna less appealing than a more traditional lasagna. We thought this was more similar to Greek Pastitsio but not as good as traditional Greek Pastitsio especially if one uses kefalotyri cheese.
Dear Milk Street,
Can someone please chime in on those who've experienced 'mushy' noodles from the no boil kind? I recall having this type of lasagna from an Italian grandmother who made her own noodles and they lasagna was indeed soft but I wouldn't say it was mushy. Perhaps the milk streeters over soaked? Water was too hot? Maybe it was the brand of noodles? I'd like to make this lasagna but also avoid ending up with mush. Thanks.
Hi Maria -
We have made this dish many times in the Milk Street kitchen and in our respective personal kitchens and haven't had issues with mushy noodles. Definitely over-soaking the noodles would cause them to become mushy as would using water that is too hot or using too much sauce. It's important to actually temp the water you are using and measure the sauce per layer. Additionally, as April mentions above, assembling the lasagna too far in advance may cause the noodles to absorb too much of the sauce, which could also cause them to become mushy. Hope these tips help!
Best,
The Milk Street Team
As chef in Milano, I was shocked at the nontraditional ingredients and methods in this recipe, when considering what the traditional Lasagne all bolognese is. 1. No way is dry sheets of pasta is better than fresh. 2. The ragù, using cubes of meat rather than ground meat is more like ragù napolitano, not bolognese. Never seen a ragù bolognese with bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and gelatin. 3. Besciamella in Italia is butter, flour, milk, salt, and nutmeg (optional I use it). Hey, don't take my word for it, check out cookbooks written and published in Italy, such as La Cucina Italiana, il Cucchiaio d'argento, Le Ricette Regionali Italiane, Cucina Regionale Italiana by Ada Boni also books published in the USA by Marcella Hazan. I was surprised because Milk Steet usually prints excellent and authentic recipes.
Hi Bill -
Did you make sure to measure the amount of bolognese and béchamel? The bolognese recipe actually makes 8 cups, not 6, so you should have had 2 cups leftover (to be used for another day). It's also important to measure the béchamel after you make it since it's possible that yours didn't reduce as much as ours. Lastly, it's critical to dry off the lasagna noodles before adding it to the dish and to uncover the lasagna as it cools. Skipping either of these steps would add additional moisture to the lasagna.
Hope that helps!
The Milk Street Team
Thanks, but no, it didn’t help. I measured both the bolognese and bechamel and had two cups of bolognese and a generous cup of bechamel leftover. I dried the noodles and uncovered the lasagna during cooling. Moreover, I simmered the sauce an extra half hour, not by design.
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I made this on Sunday for dinner. I have made MANY lasagnas in my day and I will never use another recipe than this ever again. This lasagna was a bit of a labor of love but the results are far superior to any other lasagna. Its rich and creamy without being too heavy. Only variation I made was to not strain the bechmele sauce I just fished out the bay leaves and kept the wilted basil in there. I can't wait to make this one again!