So, where do I start with this recipe? We are in love with, some might say a bit obsessed with, bolognese sauce. Finding, trying, and tweaking new recipes that look promising. To date, my favorite, for serving with tagliatelle or linguine, is an adaption of Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce. Now, don’t get me wrong, that is still a definite favorite.

However, when we went to Italy and continued our search for bolognese perfection; literally ordering it in each new spot we visited. I even took a class in Bologna on how to make it. The next stop was Bellagio and voilà, perfection! At a spot fit for a king, we had a late lunch at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni, overlooking Lake Como. Maybe it was the combination of the breathtaking setting or the late lunch. (Yes, I was starving and could have eaten anything and it would have tasted good). Regardless, one bite of this lasagne bolognese and I was done with my search. This was the most mouthwatering, delectable version I had ever eaten.

Totally smitten and unable to stop thinking about how incredible that dish was, I did what any crazed foodie would do…I went online and emailed the chef directly and begged, with all I could muster, for him to share the recipe. Guess what? It worked!

Interestingly, the return email was in English. Although, when I opened the recipe attachment, it was all in Italian. Yikes! Thank goodness for Google Translate. So, here it is, with some minor adaptions. I hope you try it and please let me know what you think.

Bellagio Bolognese Sauce
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, split
3-4 Tbs. butter, split
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 carrots, finely chopped
4 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 lb. ground beef or ground veal
1 lb. ground pork
1/4 lb. pancetta, finely chopped in food processor
1 cup of white wine (I typically use a chardonnay)
1 Tbs. tomato paste
7 oz. whole, peeled, canned San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
3/4 oz. dried mushrooms
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper
3-4 sprigs each of rosemary & sage
2 cloves garlic, smashed, not chopped
1 1/2 cups, freshly grated parmesan reggiano cheese, for assembly

DIRECTIONS
First, chop the onion, celery and carrots, sauté them with a little butter and a little olive oil. Then, add the meat and season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat until all the liquid evaporates. Then, add the white wine and simmer until that evaporates. Meanwhile, rehydrate the mushrooms, in a bowl, with about 1/2 cup of boiling water. Remove and drain, when they are totally soft, usually about 15-20 minutes and finely mince. Next, add the tomato paste, the tomatoes and the minced mushrooms..

Simmer the sauce for about two hours, stirring occasionally. Then, take the remainder of the olive oil and sauté the rosemary, sage and garlic cloves for about 3-5 minutes, being careful not to brown the garlic. Remove and discard the herbs and garlic. Then, add the infused oil to the sauce. Stir to combine and remove from heat.

Bechamel Sauce
5 Tbs. butter
5 Tbs. flour
kosher salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg
1 liter milk, heated

DIRECTIONS
First, melt the butter in a saucepan and then add the flour, salt and pepper, and stir to combine. This will initially lump up and get very thick, but continue stirring until smooth, for approximately 3-4 minutes. Then, add the nutmeg, the heated milk and again stir, to combine and continue until the sauce thickens a bit. Simmer for about 20 minutes on very low heat.

LASAGNE ASSEMBLY
Preheat oven to 400º
You will need one box of lasagne noodles. I use Barilla Oven-Ready Lasagne, because they are truly, oven-ready. Trader Joe’s also has a similar product that also works great. There is no need to pre-boil them and that to me, is a huge convenience and it doesn’t hurt that they are also quite light.

Next, butter an ovenproof dish, add a small amount of the béchamel sauce to sparsely cover the bottom of the dish. Then, place the lasagne noodles across the dish, then béchamel, then sauce and finally the grated parmesan. Repeat the above process, until you have 4-5 layers. When you put the last layer of noodles on top, cover that well with the béchamel and “stain” it with a few sparse dollops of the sauce, a light layer of parmesan cheese and a few dollops of butter.

Finally, cover and bake for about 20 minutes, remove the cover and continue baking for another 20 minutes or until bubbly and slightly browned on the edges. Then, remove from the oven and let sit for 10-15 minutes, before slicing and plating. Serve with a green salad and some crusty bread.

NOTES
This can be made well ahead of time. I actually try to do the sauce one or two days in advance, it enhances the sauce and makes assembly day much easier and less time consuming. You can assemble the day before serving and keep refrigerated. However, it also freezes beautifully. I have actually frozen it assembled and I have frozen both the bolognese and the béchamel sauces, separately. I was a bit worried about how the béchamel would survive the freezing, but it came out great. When it thawed, it did separate, but I just reheated it, whisked it vigorously and honestly, I couldn’t tell the difference.