Name: The secret to authentic Bolognese lasagne
Uploaded: 2025-12-08T09:19:28.702Z
Duration: 4 min 32 s
Description: Lasagne is one of Italy’s most famous dishes. But how do the Italians prepare this much-loved classic? We reveal the tricks of the trade.

Lasagne is one of Italy’s most famous dishes. But how do the Italians prepare this much-loved classic? We reveal the tricks of the trade.

Bologna

A family restaurant in Bologna, Italy, showcases the traditional recipe for authentic Bolognese lasagne, as recognized by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. The dish consists of layers of spinach pasta sheets, homemade bechamel sauce, and ragù alla bolognese, which notably excludes garlic and requires several hours of slow cooking.

The preparation involves careful layering of ingredients, resting the assembled lasagne overnight, and baking it for 45 minutes at 200°C. The process highlights the importance of using specific ingredients and techniques to preserve the dish's authenticity.

The secret to authentic Bolognese lasagne

Now, that's a lasagna if I've ever seen one, sheets of silky pasta enveloped in luxurious meat and bechamel sauces. Bologna in the north of Italy is the birthplace of the original lasagna, at least according to the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. The organization tends to the preservation of Italy's rich culinary heritage. And it's that very lasagna that is on the menu here at Elisa Rusconi's family restaurant It's a great traditional dish that essentially consists of just three elements. Pasta sheets, bechamel, and ragù. It sounds simple, but actually requires plenty of ingredients and a lot of preparation. So, ragù alla bolognese, or bolognese sauce, I have seen so many ingredients used that really have nothing to do with it. One of them is garlic. There is no garlic in bolognese sauce. It simply does not belong there. Instead, it's a mix of celery, carrots, and onions, pork belly bacon, coarsely ground mincemeat from pork and beef, triple tomato concentrate, and of course, extra virgin olive oil. Take a pan and pour in a generous amount of oil. We cook the vegetables down until they are perfectly browned and don't lose any liquid. When the onions are translucent and the smell changes, the sauce base is ready. Then we add the fresh pork belly. It's very important that the meat is only coarsely chopped. When the bacon is well browned, add the meat. Then comes the last ingredient, the triple concentrated tomato puree. This gives the sauce its color. Put the lid on and turn the heat down. The ragu should never cook less than three to four hours. Salt is added only at the very end. For the bechamel sauce, Elisa uses one liter of milk, butter, flour, semolina flour, nutmeg, and a little salt. First, she melts the butter. First of all, the secret is to make a real bechamel sauce yourself and not to buy it. Now we add the flour, the nutmeg comes right after. We let it cook for a few minutes, then we add the milk. The trick is to keep stirring so that the bechamel sauce doesn't burn and clump together. Now it's nice and creamy and we add a little salt. After greasing the casserole dish with some butter spray, it's time to layer. Plenty of bechamel, then the pasta sheets. These here are green because they were made with spinach. Spread evenly with ragu and top each layer with parmesan. For the last layer, take a ladle of bechamel sauce and a ladle of ragu. Then mix it together and pour it over the last layer of pasta. Finish with plenty of parmesan cheese. Here's another tip, the lasagna should be prepared the day before, kept in the fridge and left to rest overnight. Then we bake it the next day. Now it's off to the preheated oven, 45 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius. The lasagna is ready. Enjoy!

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