No Béchamel. Extra Bolognese.

Ralf’s lasagne replaces the white sauce with more slow-cooked Bolognese, a serious amount of garlic and enough cheese to make even a reheated portion feel like a highlight.

The Mayor was slightly disappointed with me.

After a busy Sunday, there had been no new culinary adventure in our house. No barbecue, no special restaurant and no fresh experiment from my kitchen. We ate reheated lasagne from the freezer.

But I must correct this immediately: my reheated lasagne is still a highlight.

The Mayor called it convenience food from Ralf’s kitchen. Okay, technically he was right. You open the freezer, take out the lasagne and heat it. This is convenient. But before it reaches the freezer, there are three or four hours of slow cooking, a mountain of vegetables, many layers of pasta and a quantity of garlic that sensible people may consider unnecessary.

I consider it necessary.

My lasagne also has one important difference: I do not like béchamel sauce.

For me, this white sauce only takes away space that could be occupied by more Bolognese. Therefore, my version has no béchamel and extra Bolognese. This is a very good arrangement.

The sauce begins with soup vegetables: carrots, onions, leek and celeriac. I cut everything into very small cubes with a special mechanical chopper called a Treppo. It has different cutting grids and a box underneath. You put the vegetable on top, close the machine with a good BOM!, and the little cubes fall into the box.

Of course, you can also use a knife. It will only take longer and make less noise.

First, I fry the minced beef until it is properly browned. Then I take it out of the pan, but I leave the fat behind. The vegetables go into this fat, and I fry them at a very high temperature. This is important because the heat produces extra aromas and flavours.

Then come the tomatoes. I use sauces made from red and yellow tomatoes, which I buy from a large Italian shop. Together, the two types of tomato give the sauce a special smell and a fuller taste.

And then there is the garlic.

When a normal recipe asks for two cloves, The Mayor says I probably use ten. For this lasagne, I use three large bulbs of Chinese mono garlic—the round, single-clove garlic. I do not chop it with a knife. I rub it over a porcelain garlic grater until it becomes a fine paste, then scrape everything directly into the sauce.

The sauce cooks slowly for three to four hours. There is no reason to hurry. The vegetables become soft, the beef and tomatoes come together, and the garlic makes sure nobody forgets that this is my kitchen.

After that, I build the lasagne: sauce, pasta sheets, sauce, pasta sheets. Halfway through, I add a generous layer of freshly grated Parmigiano. I buy it in a large piece—sometimes one and a half kilograms—because a small piece of Parmigiano creates unnecessary stress.

Then I continue with more pasta and more sauce. Mozzarella goes over the top, and the whole dish bakes slowly in the oven.

There is no béchamel. It is not missing.

There is simply more room for the important things.

Ralf’s Béchamel-Free, Extra-Bolognese Lasagne

Ingredients

The exact quantities depend on the size of your baking dish. Make enough sauce to cover every layer generously.

• Minced beef
• Carrots
• Onions
• Leek
• Celeriac
• Red-tomato sauce or passata
• Yellow-tomato sauce or passata
• 3 large bulbs of mono garlic or single-clove garlic
• Lasagne sheets
• Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated
• Mozzarella, for the top

Method

1. Prepare the vegetables.
   Cut the carrots, onions, leek and celeriac into very small, even cubes. A vegetable chopper makes this faster, but a sharp knife also works.
2. Brown the beef.
   Place the minced beef in a large, heavy pan and fry it over high heat until well browned. Remove the beef from the pan and set it aside. Leave the rendered fat in the pan.
3. Fry the vegetables.
   Add all the diced vegetables to the remaining beef fat. Fry them over high heat so that they develop strong roasted aromas and flavour.
4. Add the tomatoes.
   Pour in the red- and yellow-tomato sauces. Return the browned beef to the pan and stir everything together.
5. Add plenty of garlic.
   Grate the mono garlic into a fine paste using a porcelain garlic grater. Scrape all of it into the sauce and mix well.
6. Cook the Bolognese slowly.
   Reduce the heat and let the sauce cook gently for three to four hours. Stir occasionally. The finished sauce should be rich, aromatic and loose enough to soften the lasagne sheets during baking.
7. Begin the layers.
   Spread sauce across the bottom of a baking dish. Add a layer of lasagne sheets, followed by another generous layer of sauce. Continue alternating pasta and sauce.
8. Add the Parmigiano.
   When approximately half the sauce and pasta have been used, grate a generous layer of Parmigiano over the lasagne.
9. Finish the lasagne.
   Continue layering pasta sheets and sauce. Finish with sauce on top, then cover it with mozzarella.
10. Bake.
    Bake in a fan-assisted oven at 150°C for approximately 45 minutes.
11. Save some for a tired day.
    Any extra portions can be frozen and reheated later. They will still be a highlight—and possibly the best convenience food you have ever made.