Sausage ragu and mozzarella lasagne

Name: Sausage ragu and mozzarella lasagne
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1kg beef sausages; 2 red onions, finely chopped; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 1 stick celery, finely chopped; 2 cups red wine; 2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes

Katrina Meynink

September 13, 2019

Lasagne with slow-cooked sausage ragu.Katrina Meynink

Time:2 hours +Serves:8

The key here is using quality sausages that then spend an indecent amount of time lolling about in the sauce for a rich, luxurious hit. You can also change them up for lamb or pork for a slightly different flavour profile. A 23cm x 29cm x 7cm high baking dish works best.

Ingredients

Sausage ragu

1kg beef sausages
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely chopped
2 cups red wine
2 x 400g tins crushed tomatoes

Bechamel (white sauce)

5 cups (1.25L) milk
1 brown onion, peeled, sliced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground cloves
1 bay leaf
125g butter
100g plain flour
1 nutmeg, to grate (about ¼ tsp grated nutmeg)
salt and pepper

To assemble

9 fresh lasagne sheets
500g fresh buffalo or cow's milk mozzarella, torn
100g (1 cup) freshly grated parmesan

Method

For the sausage ragu, squeeze the sausage meat from the casings and roughly chop. Place a frypan over medium heat and add the chopped sausage and onion. As soon as it becomes fragrant, reduce the heat to low and cook until caramelised (about 10 minutes). Add the garlic, carrot and celery and cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add the wine and tomatoes and cover. Simmer for two hours or until the sausage has started to break down and soften and the liquid has reduced (aim for a bolognese-like consistency).
For the bechamel, combine milk, onion, garlic, cloves and bay leaf in a saucepan and bring to the boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for five minutes. Remove bay leaf and keep warm.
In a separate heavy-based saucepan, melt the butter, then add flour and stir over medium heat until combined and starting to colour (one to two minutes). Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the milk mixture until well combined and smooth. Return pan to low heat and cook, stirring, until sauce thickly coats the back of a wooden spoon (10 to 15 minutes). Season to taste with nutmeg, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Keep warm.
Preheat oven to 175C.
To assemble the lasagne, place three lasagne sheets in the base of the dish. Spread one-quarter of the ragu sauce on top followed by enough bechamel to just cover, and scatter over a few pieces of mozzarella. Repeat with remaining sauce, bechamel, cheese and pasta sheets. Pour any remaining bechamel sauce evenly over the final layer of mozzarella, then sprinkle with parmesan.
Bake for 30 minutes, or until the cheese has browned and the sauce is bubbling. Remove the lasagne from the oven and let it stand at room temperature for 10 minutes before serving.
More lasagne recipes
Find more of Katrina Meynink's recipes in the Good Food Favourite Recipes cookbook.