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As an Italian, you always know your Nonna’s food to be the best. There are no arguments, nothing can contest it, it just is what it is…and essentially if you disagree then get yourself ready for a beating with the wooden spoon or a little prick with a needle Nonna has lying around.

Well, my Nonna Netta’s lasagne is the best – but…..I am going against tradition and risking it all by putting my own lasagne recipe out to the world. Now, before you come at me with your wooden spoons and needles, give it a go and then we can [maybe] talk.

Some background on this recipe:

The Bolognese – this recipe takes elements from my cousin’s recipe from the Veneto region. So you will see Prosecco is used rather than red wine and different herbs are used including Star Anise – this can be quite overpowering, so feel free to either take it out half way through the cooking process, or remove it completely, but trust me, it’s worth keeping it in there. Also, you need to have patience with the sauce – this can’t just cook in 30 minutes, it needs a good 2.5-3 hours to infuse the flavours, for the meat to melt and to simply become delicious. I find prepping this the day before also allows all the flavours to just take that extra step and also breaks up the process a little. Just try not to eat it all at once.

The “Pasta” Sheets – ok so for this recipe I created a gluten free version as my cousin was coming to be my guinea pig and photographer and as he can’t have gluten, I had to adapt. Rather than attempting to make pasta sheets with GF flour, we went for an easier method and made crêpes and honestly, you wouldn’t know the difference. I would say that you may need more than 7 – I made 2 batches and just had the leftovers for dessert. Obviously, you can use normal pasta sheets here if you don’t need to cater for the gluten free crowd!

The Béchamel – The key here is to take your time! You want to slowly add warmed milk to the roux and continuously stir to avoid lumps. If you find that this does gets lumpy, the best way to save it is to pass it through a sieve. I also love to add a bay leaf in the milk whilst it’s warming through and then another into the main sauce. Remember to not let your milk boil – you will ruin the sauce and will need to start again.

There are a lot of steps for this lasagne, so remember to read through the whole recipe before you get started. You will need around 4-4.5 hours to make the bolognese (including prep time), the béchamel will take around 30-40 minutes depending on how quickly your milk warms through

Now, as I said my cousin was my guinea pig, and he can confirm that this recipe is actually BETTER than my Nonna’s….I know….I don’t know how I did it either, but they are his words, not mine. Obviously, I’m not allowed to tell Nonna as neither of us want to be disowned. But, try it for yourself and let me know!

Gluten Free Lasagne

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Recipe by Francesca Bragoli
0 from 0 votes
Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Tricky
Servings

12

servings
Prep time

45

minutes
Cooking time

3

minutes
Total time

4.25

hours

Ingredients

  • Bolognese

  • 500 g Beef mince, 20% fat

  • 500 g Pork mince, 20% fat

  • 170 g Carrots

  • Celery sticks

  • White onion

  • 1 Garlic clove, chopped

  • 3 Slices Smoked pancetta, thinly sliced

  • 200 ml Prosecco

  • 800 ml Chopped tomatoes

  • 400 ml Passata

  • Rosemary stalk

  • 2 Thyme sprigs

  • Bay leaf

  • 1 Star anise

  • Salt

  • Pepper

  • Olive Oil

  • Sugar, optional

  • Gluten Free Lasagne Sheets

  • 200 g Gluten Free Plain Flour

  • Eggs

  • 250 ml Semi Skimmed Milk

  • Salt

  • Vegetable Oil

  • Gluten Free Béchamel

  • 3 Tbsp Salted Butter

  • 100 g Gluten Free Flour

  • 750 ml Semi Skimmed Milk

  • 1 tsp Nutmeg

  • Bay Leaf

  • Salt

  • Pepper

Directions

  • Bolognese
  • Chop carrots, celery and onion into small cubes and add to a large saucepan with olive oil. Cook on mid-low heat for 15 minutes until soft.
  • Add garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
  • Add pancetta and stir into the vegetables.
  • Once soft, add beef/pork mince, season with salt and pepper and break up the meat using the back of a wooden spoon. This will help all the meat to brown evenly. Stir frequently until all the meat is brown.
  • Turn up the heat, add the Prosecco and stir until all the liquid has cooked off.
  • Once the liquid has evaporated, add chopped tomatoes, passata, herbs and star anise.
  • Stir and reduce the heat to low, cover and leave to cook for 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally. Check the seasoning and adjust accordingly in the last hour of cooking. This would also be the best time to add sugar if you find the sauce is a bit on the tart side. Add 1 tsp and leave for a while before trying again to give the sugar time to dissolve.
  • Gluten Free Lasagne Sheets
  • Combine flour, egg, milk & a pinch of salt. Whisk well and if the mixture is too thick, add more milk until it is smooth.
  • Heat a little vegetable oil in small frying pan – you only want it to coat the pan, pour any excess into a bowl.
  • Make sure the pan is nice and hot and then reduce the heat so it doesn’t burn.
  • Pour a small ladle of the pancake mix into the pan and swirl to coat so you get a thin crepe.
  • Cook for 1-2 minutes and using a rubber spatula, loosen the pancake around the edges. Flip and cook the other side for another minute. Repeat until the mixture is done.
  • Béchamel
  • Warm through the milk in a saucepan – you don’t want this to boil, you just want it to be warm. You can add a bay leaf at this stage to infuse. Meanwhile, add butter to a saucepan and melt on a medium-low heat. Once melted, add flour and stir thoroughly to form a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes, this will remove the raw flour flavour.
  • Gradually add a ladle of milk to the roux, stirring thoroughly each time until the milk is incorporated. The first few ladles will absorb quickly and will turn into a paste – be patient and keep adding the milk 1-2 ladles at a time until you have a creamy mixture. You can also add the original bay leaf at this stage, or add a fresh leaf.
  • As the sauce thickens, add a pinch of salt, pepper and the nutmeg, taste and adjust accordingly.
  • After 15 minutes, or so you should get a nice creamy, smooth sauce. You want it to stick slightly to your spoon, and you should be able to run your finger along the back of the spoon and create a path. Take it off the heat and it will continue to thicken as it cools.
  • Lasagne Assembly
  • Preheat the oven to 200C / 180C Fan.
  • Start with a layer of Bolognese at the bottom of a large oven dish
  • Slice pancakes into rectangles to form the “pasta sheets” and layer on top of the bolognese
  • Add some more bolognese followed by some béchamel to cover and grate in some parmesan
  • Repeat the layers until the dish is full and make sure your top layer is the béchamel with a grating of parmesan
  • Cover with foil and put in the oven for 1 hour
  • After 1 hour, remove the foil and increase the heat to full whack for a further 10-15 mins – keep an eye on it, you want to get the top nice and golden but not burnt. Let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

  • You can make the bolognese with just beef mince and remove the pancetta if you don’t eat pork.
  • The Prosecco can be replaced with white wine.
  • You can make the bolognese a day in advance, just let it cool and leave in the fridge until an hour before you’re ready to assemble. This will allow it to come to room temperature and will be easier to work with.
  • If you’re not allergic to gluten, you can simply use standard lasagne sheets or you can go ahead and make your own pasta – I will share a post on this soon.
  • Take your time with the béchamel, you don’t want to rush it as it will go lumpy and the flour won’t cook off.
  • Leaving the lasagne to stand for at least 10 minutes will make it easier to serve and will also cool it down a little, allowing you to actually taste the flavour rather than burning off your taste buds!