Is there a more comforting Sunday dish than real Lasagna Bolognese? Layers of hand-rolled green spinach pasta, slow-simmered meat ragù, and silky béchamel come together in Bologna's most iconic baked pasta — rich, deeply savory, and worth every one of the six hours it takes.
Info
- Difficulty: Hard
- Total time: 6 hours
- Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
For the green egg pasta
- Durum wheat semolina: 6.2 oz (175 g)
- All-purpose (00) flour: 2.6 oz (75 g)
- Spinach: 4.4 oz (125 g)
- Eggs: 1
- Egg yolks: 2
For the ragù
- Ground beef: 1.5 lb (700 g)
- Tomato passata: 12.3 oz (350 g)
- Fresh pancetta: 9.5 oz (270 g)
- Carrots: 3.9 oz (110 g)
- Celery: 3.9 oz (110 g)
- Golden onions: 3.9 oz (110 g)
- Vegetable broth: 12.3 oz (350 g)
Discover how to make vegetable broth → - Red wine: ½ cup (110 g)
- Double concentrated tomato paste: 2 tablespoons
- Extra virgin olive oil: 6 tablespoons
- Salt: to taste
- Black pepper: to taste
For the béchamel
- Béchamel sauce
Discover how to make béchamel sauce →
For the top
- Parmigiano Reggiano DOP: 5.3 oz (150 g)
Step-by-Step Instructions
- Wash and finely dice the carrot, celery, and onion.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add the diced vegetables.
- Add the pancetta and ground beef; cook until browned.
- Deglaze with the red wine and let it evaporate.
- Stir in the tomato passata, tomato paste, and vegetable broth.
- Simmer the ragù over low heat for about 2 hours.
- Meanwhile, wash the spinach and cook briefly in a little water.
- Drain the spinach and blend it into a smooth purée.
- In a bowl, knead the semolina, flour, eggs, egg yolks, and spinach purée into a smooth, homogeneous dough.
- Cover the dough and let it rest for 30 minutes.
- Roll the dough out thinly with a pasta machine or rolling pin into sheets about 4×6 inches (10×15 cm).
- Prepare the béchamel sauce. Discover how to make béchamel >
- In a baking dish, alternate layers of pasta sheets, ragù, and béchamel.
- Finish the top layer with ragù, béchamel, and a generous amount of Parmigiano Reggiano.
- Bake until the top is golden.
- Let the lasagna rest for a few minutes before serving.
... and now, let's enjoy!
Tips
Don’t overload the layers with sauce — restraint keeps the lasagna compact and holds its shape when cut. Just as important: let it rest for a few minutes after coming out of the oven. The layers firm up as it cools slightly, which is what gives you clean, intact slices instead of a dish that slides apart.
Additional Info
Lasagna is one of the oldest dishes in Italian cooking, with its roots tracing back especially to Emilia-Romagna. The most famous version, alla bolognese, is tied directly to the culinary tradition of Bologna, built on the pairing of slow-cooked ragù and béchamel — a combination that became the template for the dish nationwide.
Substitutions & Variations
There’s no single “correct” lasagna. Regional and family versions swap the ragù for vegetables, mushrooms, or fish, and some areas skip tomato entirely for a white, tomato-free filling. The pasta itself varies too — plain egg pasta in some households, spinach-green sfoglia in others, and richer, more elaborate fillings depending on the region.
Serving Suggestions
Lasagna is traditionally served as a primo for Sunday lunch or special occasions. It’s best eaten hot but not piping — letting it settle slightly brings the flavors into better balance and keeps the layers stable when plated.
