I’m not one to turn down any slice of lasagna, BUT if I had to choose only one type to eat for the rest of my life, hands down it’d be béchamel-based rather than ricotta!
And Chris Morocco’s BA’s Best Lasagna is a béchamel-based version that lives up to the recipe name! I was skeptical of pan-frying pork/beef meatballs only to crush them up for the sauce but was thrilled with the flavorful results.
The broken-up meatballs are the base of a ragu with white wine, tomatoes, milk, broth, and soffrito that marries perfectly with the creamy béchamel infused with parmesan, cayenne, and nutmeg.
The ragu, béchamel, and noodles are layered until they fill the pan – I ran low on the béchamel and had to make an additional cup for the very top of the lasagna.
The dish is baked until bubbly and the edges have crisped – it really was one of the best lasagnas I’ve encountered.
This is a project and labor of love, but I found making the meat sauce one day and the béchamel and assembling the next makes it a little more manageable.
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Intermediate
Store-Bought Is Fine: lasagna noodles
Pricey Ingredients: —
Hard-to-find: —
Recipe on BonAppetit.com.
SERVE WITH
- J. Kenji Lopez Alt’s Kale Caesar Salad
- Marcella Hazan’s Braised Carrots
- Dan Pelosi’s Tiramisu Affogato
