100 Layer Lasagna

It's no secret I love watching The Chew.  When Mario Batali made a 100 Layer Lasagna for The Chew's 100th episode, I had to give it a try myself.  Mike is hit and miss when it comes to lasagna.  He'll eat my lasagna, but he don't like very much ricotta - sacrilege!  When I saw Mario using a white sauce instead of a ricotta mixture I knew Mike would probably get on board.  

So I spent a day making lasagna from scratch.  Okay, mostly from scratch.  I don't have a pasta roller and I wasn't about to try and roll the dough by hand.  I'm working up to that adventure.  So I bought dried lasagna pasta at the store and cut off the crinkly edges.  I did however make the ragu and white sauce from scratch.  My house smelt amazing while the ragu cooked.

I liked the lasagna, but it felt very light from what I was used to.  The heavy, richness that I think most american's are used to with a lasagna isn't quite there.  Not that this is a bad thing, it's just different and I want you to know going in that your first bite won't feel like you've eaten half the pan with one mouthful.

*Mario notes that you will need 3 batches of each recipe component to make the 100 layer version of this recipe.  My version here is 11 layers.

One Year Ago: Monster House Party - Pt. 1

100 Layer Lasagna
Adapted from Mario Batali

Ingredients:
Besciamella  (White Sauce)
5 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Ragu Bolognese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
4 ribs celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
5 cloves garlic, sliced thin
1 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork  {I'm cheap and ground some pork chops in the food processor}
4 ounces bacon, diced
6 ounces tomato paste
1 cup milk
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Salt and pepper

16 ounces lasagna noodles, cooked to package instructions, then crinkle edges cut off
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Ragu Bolognese

In a 6 to 8 quart heavy bottomed pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat until hot.  Add the onions, celery, carrots, and garlic and cook until the vegetables are translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.  Add the beef, pork, and bacon, increase the temperature to high.  Brown meat, stirring frequently.  Add the tomato paste, milk, win, and thyme and bring just to a boil.  Then, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer to 1 to 1 1/2 hours.  Season ragu with salt and pepper, remove from heat and let cool.

Besciamella

In a medium saucepan, heat the butter until melted.  Add the flour and whisk until smooth.  Cook over medium heat until golden brown, about 6 to 7 minutes.  In a separate pan, heat the milk until just about to boil.  Add the milk to the butter mixture 1 cup at a time, whisking continuously until very smooth, and bring to a boil.  Cook 30 seconds longer and remove from the heat.  Season with salt and nutmeg.

Assembly

Place a layer of ragu in the bottom of a 9" x 13" baking dish.  Top ragu with some Parmesan cheese, a layer of pasta, a layer of besciamella, another layer of ragu, a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, and pasta.  Repeat to end with pasts topped with besciamella and a sprinkle Parmesan.  For the 100 layer version you'll have 33 layers of pasta 33 layers of ragu, and 34 layers of besciamella.

Cook pasta in the oven for 1 hour.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.