My Favorite Lasagne

When I first started making this dish I used  the traditional Italian-American recipe with ricotta and mozzarella cheeses, but I have since changed to this recipe which uses a cream sauce flavored with Parmegiano-Reggiano cheese.  It is lighter and, to my taste, more delicate and delicious.

For the cream sauce:

3 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
1 cup heavy cream
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon salt
4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated

3 cups tomato sauce
9 or 10 meatballs, sliced,  from my Spaghetti Sauce with Meatballs recipe

1 package Barilla no-cook lasagne noodles

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour, stir and cook for  2 or 3 minutes to eliminate the floury taste.  Slowly add the milk in ½ cup increments, whisking until smooth between each addition.  Finally add the cream, whisking constantly.  Cook until the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer, still whisking, for 2 or 3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and add the nutmeg and salt and half the grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

In a 3 quart casserole, spread a layer of tomato sauce, top with about 1 cup of the cream sauce.  Top this with a layer of lasagne noodles.  Top with a layer of tomato sauce, to[ with 1 cup of cream sauce and add a layer of meatball slices, sprinkle with  grated cheese.  Top with noodles.  Repeat two more times and top with tomato sauce and a final layer of cream sauce.  Sprinkle with remaining grated cheese.

 

Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes or until bubbling gently.  Or refrigerate until 1¾ hours before serving.  Let come to room temperature for an hour and then bake as above.  Allow to rest 15 minutes before serving.

Enjoy!

WATCH THE VIDEO DEMONSTRATION