1 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound Italian sausage
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 (15-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in purée
Béchamel Sauce:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
12 sheets no-boil lasagna noodles
3 cups shredded aged Cheddar cheese
2. To prepare béchamel sauce, melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in milk. Cook and stir with whisk until thick and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Cool 10 minutes.
3. Preheat oven to 400F.
4. Spread 3/4 cup meat sauce in bottom of a 13-by-9-inch baking pan. Place 4 sheets of lasagna crosswise in pan over sauce, overlapping slightly. (The sheets will not reach all the way across the pan, but they will expand as they bake.) Top with one-third of the meat sauce (spreading evenly to cover noodles) and then one-third of the bechamel sauce. Top with one-third of the cheese. Repeat layers (starting with noodles) twice.
5. Bake, uncovered, 35 to 40 minutes, covering loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes if top browns too much. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. Serves 10 to 12.
VARIATIONS:
French-Style Lasagna: Substitute Comté (French Gruyère) cheese for the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Substitute 1 tablespoon crushed dried rosemary for the parsley. Use ground pork instead of the Italian sausage.
Italian-Style Lasagna: Substitute Parmigiano-Reggiano for the Cheddar cheese. Substitute 2 teaspoons dried basil and 2 teaspoons dried oregano for the parsley.
Recipes by Wini Moranville, "Relish a Classic Dish," March 2007.
