Lasagna sauce: recipe

Do you want to pamper your loved ones with a really tasty, satisfying and at the same time unusual dish? In this case, lasagna can be a good choice - of course, provided that your family loves Italian cuisine.

History of Lasagna

Today it’s quite difficult to say how cunning Italian chefs first guessed to make lasagna sauce and the dish itself, which brought Italy such popularity. However, it is known exactly when the recipe was first recorded - the documentary information was saved by connoisseurs. A dish in which tortillas are poured with sauce and baked is mentioned in a cookbook written in the fourteenth century AD.

True, the Greeks are trying to rob the Italians, claiming that it was they who first prepared the lasagna, but people from the Roman Empire adopted the recipe during military campaigns. But the Greek prototype is very vaguely reminiscent of modern lasagna - these are simple cakes, grated with spices and cheese for taste. Therefore, nevertheless, we can assume that it was in Italy that the world's first lasagna was prepared.

Choose a sauce

Anyone who is even very far from cooking will agree that lasagna sauce is a fundamental factor in cooking. Of course, the most noticeable part of the dish is the dough - an appetizing, baked flatbread.

But the dough itself has practically no taste. But when it is cooked together with the sauce, it takes its taste and aroma, it is at that moment that lasagna is born. Therefore, approaching the choice of this component is as serious as possible.

Well, if you value refinement, light, refined taste, then it makes sense to cook bechamel. In addition, it does not include meat, so it is perfect for vegetarians.

Fans of sourness and a more pronounced, sharp taste will surely like lasagna bolognese sauce.

If you already know both of these sauces, you can try Neapolitan lasagna, known for its excellent taste and sophisticated design.

So, we’ll tell you about all three recipes so that you can easily choose the right one.

Bechamel sauce

You can see how lasagna with bechamel sauce looks in the photo provided in the article. Well, how not to be tempted and not to taste a piece of such an appetizing, refined dish? So, take to prepare it:

• 300 ml of milk;
• 200 grams of flour;
• 200 grams of butter;
• salt, black pepper.

As you can see, there is nothing special here - all products are in most kitchens or can be bought at the nearest store. Now we’ll study a step-by-step recipe that allows you to prepare a delicious Lasagna dish with bechamel sauce:

1. Rub cheese on a fine grater.
2. Remove the butter in advance from the refrigerator, put it in a cauldron or pan with thick walls, and when it melts, knead it with a fork.
3. Add flour to the oil, mix thoroughly so that there are no lumps left.
4. Heat the milk (but do not bring to a boil) and with a thin stream, stirring thoroughly, transfer to butter and flour.
5. Put the resulting mixture on a small fire and heat until it thickens - you should not bring to a boil, so as not to spoil the taste. Add salt and pepper, mix thoroughly.

Gourmet sauce is ready - it can be used for further cooking.

Bolognese sauce

Fans of tomatoes and meat are sure to enjoy this delicious sauce. Fortunately, scarce or exotic ingredients are also not required for its preparation:

• 600 grams of minced meat (pork or beef);
• 5 medium tomatoes;
• 100 ml of red wine;
• 2 onions;
• 2 cloves of garlic;
• 2 tablespoons butter;
• vegetable oil, salt, pepper, herbs - basil or oregano.

Are all the right products assembled? Now we begin to prepare a new sauce for lasagna - the recipe is surprisingly simple:

1. Pour the tomatoes with boiling water, transfer them to ice water in 2-3 minutes, peel them and grind in a blender.
2. Peel the onion and garlic, chop finely.
3. Melt butter in a pan or cauldron with a small amount of vegetable oil, put onion, fry until it becomes transparent.
4. Add minced meat and garlic to the onion. Fry, stirring regularly, until cooked.
5. Put the resulting tomato mass to the minced meat, mix.
6. Add wine, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Remove from heat, sprinkle with finely chopped greens.

So you learned how to cook another delicious sauce of Italian cuisine.

Neapolitan Lasagna

This sauce is prepared a little harder, so stock up on time and patience. For cooking, you need the following ingredients:

• 400 grams of minced meat (beef or pork);
• 60 grams of parmesan;
• 1 raw egg;
• 1 carrot;
• 1 stalk of celery;
• 1 onion;
• 50 ml of red wine;
• 1 liter of pickled tomatoes in their own juice;
• olive oil, salt, pepper, herbs.

Start cooking - this lasagna sauce is more complicated than the previous ones, but its taste will definitely not disappoint you.

1. Peel and cut vegetables - celery and carrots into cubes, onion rings.
2. Heat olive oil in a pan by mixing it with wine.
3. Put the vegetables in a pan and simmer over low heat so that half the liquid evaporates.
4. Add the tomatoes by first passing them through the blender to make a homogeneous mass.
5. Stuffing mix with grated Parmesan and a raw egg. Salt. Form small meatballs, fry them in vegetable oil until tender and transfer to the sauce.
6. Add salt and pepper, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
7. Sprinkle with chopped herbs.

Now you know how to cook different sauces. The time has come to tell you how to cook the Italian dish itself. Lasagne with bechamel sauce - a step by step recipe is much simpler than it might seem.

Cooking Lasagna

All that is needed to prepare a gourmet dish is:

• 400 grams of dry lasagna cakes;
• 300 grams of the finished sauce - which one, decide for yourself;
• 300 grams of hard cheese.

Having everything you need, you can start cooking:

1. Boil cakes in salted water - you need to lower them in cool boiling water.
2. Dip boiled cakes in cold water, and then dry with a paper towel.
3. Lay a layer of cakes on a baking sheet, greased with vegetable oil. Put a portion of the sauce and a little grated cheese on top.
4. Repeat the procedure until the ingredients run out. For the top layer, it is desirable to leave the liquid from the sauce and a lot of cheese.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the dish for 20-30 minutes until a golden crust forms.

Italian food is ready! It remains to cut it and bring it to the table, where enthusiastic guests are already waiting.

Conclusion

As you can see, the classic Lasagna recipe with sauce is pretty simple. Rare ingredients are not needed for its preparation - just a little experience and enough time, patience.

Having mastered the recipe once, you will surely often please relatives and friends with this dish, having earned in their circle the honorary title of a real culinary specialist.