Susie's Lasagna

Taken from a recipe that Susie borrowed from The California Heritage Cookbook. She then imparted her own magic to make this a super delicious, classic lasagna.

BOLOGNESE (meat sauce)
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1 chopped carrot
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 pound sweet Italian Sausage
• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 28oz canned diced tomatoes, drained.
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups beef stock
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/8 tsp allspice
• Salt & Peppr to taste

BESCIAMELLA (cheese sauce)
• 3 tbsp butter
• 6 tbsp flour
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup heavy creme
• 1 tsp salt
• dash nutmeg
• 1 lb (16 oz, 4 cups, etc) mozzarrela cheese grated
• 1/2 cup freshly graated parmesan cheese.

LASAGNA NOODLES
• 1 pound lasagna noodles (Barilla Oven-Ready Rolled flat)

METHOD

To prepare meat sauce, combine the onion, garlic,carrots and celery and saute over low heat in 2 tablespoons of butter until golden, or about 8 or 10 minutes stirring frequently. Remove to a heavy 3 to 4 quart sauce pan. In the same frying pan saute the sausage and ground beef in the olive oil until lightly browned. Stir to break up lumps. Remove excess grease. Add the wine to the meat and boil, stirring constantly, until wine is almost evaporated. Add meat to saucepan with onion mixture and add the tomatoes, tomato paste, stock, and seasonings. Simmer, partially covered for one hour, stirring occasionally.... this will make 6 cups.
To prepare Besciamella, melt 3 tablespoons butter in a heavy 2-3 quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in the flour and cook slowly for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour in the milk and creme slowly, stirring with a whisk to obstain a smooth sauce. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly, until suace thickens. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp of salt and nutmeg. Set aside (should be about 3 cups).
Butter a 9x13x3 inch baking dish.
To assemble, spread a layer of meat sauce on bottom of baking dish to about 1/4 inch deep. Over this lay one third of the noodles, then one third of the Besciamella sauce and one third of the mozzarella. Repeat two more times; layering the meat sauce, noodles, Besciamella, and ending with the mozzarella. Sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven until bubbly, or about 40 minutes. Let sit 10-15 minutes before serving.

CHEF's NOTES:

• For the first 20 minutes cover with a layer of parchment paper and aluminum foil on top to confine cooking steam within the dish (the parchment paper keeps the cheese from sticking to the foil). OK to substitute different types of ground meat/sausage. OK to use regular noodles that you pre-boil, but these oven ready strips from Barilla really make this an easy job. The addition of red wine is something infrequently seen in standard lasagna recipes and is one of the reasons, I think, that makes Susie's version so good.