“We’ve never had lasagne on the menu at Tipo, but I’ve made many versions at home over the years,” says Andreas Papadakis. “As there are quite a few elements to make, it can be really time-consuming and not so much fun to try and do everything from scratch on the day. I always have at least the ragù made in advance, but if the pasta dough is ready to go too, then it streamlines the rest of the process. And if you’re really pushed for time, ready-made fresh lasagne sheets from your local deli would also work well.”
Serves 6–8
1 quantity master pasta dough (see below)
1 quantity ragù Bolognese (see below)
500ml (2 cups) Napoli tomato sauce (see below)
175g (1¾ cups) finely grated parmesan
For the béchamel sauce
100g unsalted butter
100g plain flour
750ml (3 cups) whole milk, warmed
25g (¼ cup) finely grated parmesan
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
freshly grated nutmeg
Roll the pasta dough into sheets 2–3mm thick and about 10–12cm wide, roughly the width of the rollers in most pasta machines. You should be able to get 8–10 sheets, which will give you a lasagne of 4–5 layers. Lightly dust the pasta sheets with semolina flour and set aside.
For the béchamel sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Add the flour and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon. Gradually whisk in the warm milk until smooth, then cook for 10 minutes over the lowest possible heat to thicken, stirring to avoid the sauce catching on the bottom. Remove from the heat, stir in the parmesan and season with salt, pepper and a hint of nutmeg. If you made the ragù Bolognese ahead of time, put it into a saucepan and bring it to a simmer; you may need to add a little water or stock to loosen it up. Do the same with the tomato sauce. When you have all your components ready to go, preheat the oven to 175°C fan-forced.
To assemble your lasagne, choose a baking dish about 35 × 24cm. Set aside roughly a third of the parmesan for the top, then start building the layers. Spread 3–4 spoons of the ragù over the bottom of your baking dish, followed by a couple of spoons of the tomato sauce, just so the pasta sheets don’t stick. Lay in two sheets of pasta side by side and randomly spoon dollops of the bechamel over the top, then spoon over another layer of ragù and tomato sauce and sprinkle with some parmesan. Continue this layering process until all the pasta, ragù and tomato sauce is used, then finish with the reserved parmesan.
Cook the lasagne, uncovered, for 50 minutes–1 hour. Check on it after 45 minutes: if the top is getting too dark, reduce the oven temperature to 150°C; if it looks too pale, increase the temperature to 200°C for the remaining cooking time. Once it’s ready, let it rest for an hour before cutting and serving.
Master pasta dough
Makes enough pasta for 4–6
350g ‘00’ flour
150g durum wheat semolina flour
1 teaspoon sea salt
65g egg yolk (from about 3–4 eggs)
190g whole egg (about 4 eggs)
Set up the pasta machine on a solid benchtop. Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough enough that it will go through the widest setting on the pasta machine, then pass it through the rollers two or three times, going down one notch each time.
Bring both sides of the dough to the centre, so they meet in the middle, then fold in half to create four layers of dough.
Roll the dough through the widest setting again, then repeat the folding and rolling process one more time – but this time bring one-third of the dough into the centre, laying it over the middle third, then cover with the last third to create three layers.
Flatten the dough again, so that it will go through the widest setting on your machine, then pass it through the rollers, going down one notch at a time; it should be smooth by now and starting to become elastic. Keep going until the pasta sheets are the thickness you need: for filled pasta, you want a 1–1.5mm thickness, and for long and short shapes, 2–3mm.
Cutting and shaping the dough
For long pasta (such as spaghetti and tagliatelle), the sheets are cut into strips using the cutter attachment on your pasta machine (if it has one) or a sharp knife.
For shaped pasta (such as garganelli), the sheets are cut into squares with a pasta wheel and then formed into shapes.
For filled pasta (such as tortelloni and ravioli), the sheets are also cut into squares or circles before being filled and sealed.
And for more rustic kinds of pasta (such as fusilli al ferretto and orecchiette), the dough is not machine-rolled into sheets at all, but simply shaped by hand.
For the ragù Bolognese
about 125ml olive oil
500g beef neck or chuck, coarsely minced
300g pork scotch or shoulder, coarsely minced
1 brown onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 small celery stalk, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
125g tomato paste (concentrated purée)
250ml (1 cup) red wine
2 cloves
2 sprigs of thyme
1 bay leaf
400ml chicken stock, plus extra if needed
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
In the meantime, make the ragù Bolognese. Place a large heavy-based saucepan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and both meats and brown for about 5 minutes, or until it starts caramelising, breaking it up as it cooks – a whisk is good for this. If your pan isn’t big enough to hold it all comfortably, do this in two batches. Remove the meat with a slotted spoon, so the rendered fat stays in the pan, and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium-low, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the pan and cook slowly until soft, at least 5 minutes – you may need to add a little more oil, depending on how much fat has rendered from the meat. Return the meat to the pan, stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2–3 minutes, then pour in the wine, stirring to deglaze, and simmer until almost completely evaporated.
Wrap the cloves, thyme and bay leaf in a piece of muslin (cheesecloth) and tie with string. Add this to the pan and pour in the stock, then season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and let the ragù simmer over low heat for 45 minutes–1 hour, stirring occasionally and adding more stock if it gets too dry.
Napoli tomato sauce
Mapes about 2 litres (8 cups)
80ml (⅓ cup) olive oil
1 brown onion, finely diced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
3 x 400g tins of peeled tomatoes, ideally San Marzano
basil leaves from 2–3 sprigs
sea salt
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat, then add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and translucent, around 6–8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir well, then bring to a slow simmer. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 1 hour, stirring occasionally to make sure the sauce doesn’t catch on the bottom. Taste and season with salt, then take off the heat and let the sauce rest for 15 minutes before you add the basil. We normally pass this sauce through a vegetable mill while it’s still hot. If you don’t have one, you can just use a whisk to crush the tomatoes – don’t be tempted to blitz the sauce with a blender, or you’ll lose its pleasingly rustic texture.
Tipo 00: The Pasta Cookbook (Murdoch Books, RRP $49.99) is available now at excellent Victorian bookshops such as Paperback Bookshop, Hill of Content and Readings.