Lasagna — HOUSE of PLENTY

There's nothing quite as comforting or delicious as a homemade lasagna. This recipe is an authentic version that doesn't rely on heavy cheeses and fillings, but is full of rich sauce and creamy bechamel. This lasagna is certain to be a crowd pleaser.

For the Lasagna you'll need:

Sunday sauce, also known as bolognese (this can be made days in advance) Bechamel sauce (recipe below) Lasagna noodles, Parsley, chopped.

So, you've made your Sunday sauce, what's next? Next up is the creamy component: The bechamel. Rather than using heavy ricotta fillings, or mozzarella cheese caps, the bechamel brings a lovely creaminess to the lasagna, and is made with things you probably already have in the house. The bechamel, too, can be made a day or two in advance, and then gently reheated on the stove.

Bechamel recipe:

8 Tbs butter

1/4 cup flour

6 cups whole milk

4 oz of shaved parmesan cheese

pinch of cayenne pepper

pinch of nutmeg

How to make bechamel sauce:

In a heavy bottomed pot over medium high heat, melt your butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in your flour to incorporate. Continue to cook the flour in the butter for 5-10 minutes, whisking frequently until the flour and butter smell nutty and fragrant. That's when you'll know the flour has cooked long enough.

To your flour and butter mixture, slowly add your whole milk a little at a time, taking care to fully whisk it in each time you add some. Once all the milk is added, increase the heat to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer, whisking frequently to prevent scorching on the bottom. Once the sauce has reached a simmer, continue cooking for 8-10 minutes, whisking frequently, until the Bechamel has thickened slightly and is velvety.

Once the Bechamel has thickened, remove from the heat and stir in a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of nutmeg, and the parmesan cheese until it is fully incorporated. That's it! Your Bechamel is done, and now it's time to make your lasagna.

To assemble the lasagna:

Now it's time to cook our noodles. While fresh pasta is amazing, here it's perfectly fine to use the store bought stuff. Make sure to buy lasagna noodles that need to be cooked. Don't fool with the "oven ready" kind. They will leave you with a gummy, mushy, mess.

Cook your lasagna noodles until just short of "al-dente" (for about 3-4 minutes, and then set aside on a parchment lined sheet tray, with parchment paper in between layers of noodles to prevent sticking. Don't cook the noodles all the way to soft - because then they will turn to mush in the oven. You want a little more of a crunch than usual left in the noodle before you assemble, to account for additional cook time in the oven.

In your 9x13 deep dish or preferred deep casserole dish, start by greasing the dish with a little bit of olive oil. Then layer in a small amount of your Sunday Sauce. Layer in your lasagna noodles on top of the Sunday Sauce, using kitchen shears to trim any noodles to shape that need to be trimmed. Make sure all of your noodles are facing in the same orientation. On top of your noodles spread 1 and 1/2 cups of the bechamel, using a spoon or offset spatula to spread evenly across the noodles. On top of your bechamel come in with another layer of Sunday sauce, carefully spreading it over your bechamel. Now it's time for more noodles, but this time change the orientation of your noodles to go in the opposite direction of your first layer. For example, if the noodles were running from top to bottom, make the next layer run from left to right. Doing this sort of "basket weave" with every layer of noodles will help ensure a sturdier finished lasagna that will slice nicely in the dish, instead of just mushing all around. Continue to repeat this process until you have 4 or 5 layers of noodles, bechamel, sunday sauce. You will want to finish with a top layer of noodles.

Finally, on your top layer of noodles, spread the last bit of bechamel over the top of your noodles. Take a large piece of aluminum foil, sprayed with cooking spray or rubbed with oil, and cover the dish - sprayed side down - on top of your lasagna. This will help prevent burning and sticking. Place your lasagna on a rimmed sheet tray to catch any bubbling over, and place in a preheated oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

After the 30 minutes has elapsed, take your lasagna out of the oven, remove the foil, and return to the oven at 450 degrees for 10 additional minutes to brown the top. Make sure to keep an eye on your lasagna at this point - cause it can go from browned to scorched pretty quickly.