My family always serves lasagna on Thanksgiving and it’s what I look forward to the most! I love this recipe from Pasta Grannies because it’s all made from scratch; it was a huge hit at Thanksgiving last year! The pasta is made with spinach and layered with creamy besciamella sauce and pork ragu. This recipe makes enough lasagna to fill two 9×13 baking dishes. Watch 91-year-old Nonna Maria make her incredible lasagna in this video! Use this calculator here to convert the measurements if needed.
What are your family’s Thanksgiving traditions? Let us know in the comments!
Ingredients:
For the pasta:
- 10 eggs
- 1 kilo 00 flour
- 100g fresh spinach, stems removed
For the ragu:
- 2 garlic cloves + 2-3 sage leaves, wrapped in muslin
- 50 g unsmoked pancetta, diced
- 1 kg ground pork loin
- 1 liter beef stock
- 400 g tomato paste
- Kosher salt to taste
For the besciamella:
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 100 g ap flour
- 1-liter whole milk
- 1/2 a nutmeg, grated
- Parmigiano-Reggiano for garnish
Process:
- Combine the spinach and flour in a food processor and blitz until spinach is finely ground.
- Pour out the flour and spinach on a work surface and create a well in the center. Crack the eggs into the center and begin to break the yolks with a fork. Mix in the flour and create a dough. Knead the dough for several minutes until smooth.
- Cover the dough with a towel or plastic wrap and let rest for at least 30 minutes. Note: The longer the dough rest, the easier it will be to roll out.
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough into a large sheet until it’s about 1/8 inch thick. Note: This is a fragile dough, if it breaks, stick it back together and roll it out.
- Slice the dough into 9 x 13 sheets or sheets the size of your baking dishes.
- Blanch the pasta sheets in a pot of salted, boiling water for about 2 minutes or until they float. Remove and lay flat to cool.
- Meanwhile, in a pot, saute the pancetta and add the pork loin with some olive oil so that it doesn’t stick.
- Add the muslin wrapped garlic and sage to the meat.
- Season with salt to taste and add enough broth to cover the meat.
- Add the tomato paste with a can full of broth and let simmer for at least 1 hour.
- Remove the garlic and sage when finished cooking.
- To make the besciamella, pour the whole milk into a pot. In a separate pot, make a roux with the flour and butter and mix over medium-low heat. Season well with kosher salt and nutmeg. Slowly whisk in the milk until it becomes a thick sauce.
- Spread a thin layer of the ragu at the bottom of the baking dishes and then lay a sheet of pasta on top.
- Add another layer of ragu followed by spoonfuls of the besciamella with some grated Parmigiano.
- Repeat until the baking dishes are full. Layer the top with besciamella, Parmigiano and some butter.
- Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
