Ingredients

• 2 ounces minced pancetta or guanciale
• ¼ cup EVOO
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 rib of celery and a few leafy tops, finely chopped
• 1 small white or yellow onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated
• Salt and pepper
• 1 ½ pounds (750 grams) 80% lean ground beef
• 1 ½ cups white wine
• 1 cup milk
• 1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 piece of rind from Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese
• 1 ½ cups beef or chicken bone broth, as needed

For The Besciamella Sauce:

• 1 package of flat spinach lasagne or egg lasagna sheets
• 5 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons flour
• 1 quart whole milk
• Salt and white pepper, to taste
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 2 cups grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 1 firm ball of mozzarella, thinly sliced
• Basil leaves

Directions

Over medium heat in a Dutch oven, melt the pancetta or guanciale into the EVOO and cook until browned. Then add carrot, celery and onion and let soften for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic, salt and pepper.  Add beef and crumble but do not cook to crisp or deeply brown.  Add wine and let it cook down and absorb.  Add milk and do the same.  Add tomatoes, cheese rind, stock, as needed, and simmer for about 1 ½ hours.

Remove the cheese rind and reserve for the lasagne.

To Assemble: 

Prepare lasagna sheets to package directions then arrange on layers of parchment paper with a slightly damp kitchen towel on top to hold until ready to use. 

For the besciamella, melt the butter in a medium saucepot over low heat, whisk in the flour. Be sure not to let the butter or roux start to brown. Once the roux starts to bubble, begin whisking in the milk. Bring the milk to a simmer and season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg and let cook to thicken. Once it coats the back of a wooden spoon with a thick layer, turn the heat off. 

Build the lasagne 6 layers deep in a large rectangular casserole pan.  Start with a layer of the bolognese on the bottom to coat the pan then a layer of the pasta, besciamella and a generous sprinkle of parm on top and repeat the layering. On the top layer, finish with mozzarella. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes then uncover and cook another 20-30 minutes  until  golden. 

Let stand for 20 minutes. Top with torn basil and cut and serve with garlic bread and a green salad.

To make garlic bread to go along with this lasagne, melt 3 tablespoons each of butter and EVOO in a small saucepan and grate in a few cloves of garlic. As soon as the garlic starts to bubble, turn off the heat. Toast one medium ciabatta or half of a large ciabatta in the oven until crisp but not browned. Brush with the garlic infused butter and oil and then sprinkle with grated parm. Return to the oven to melt the cheese. Sprinkle with a little chopped parsley and slice to serve. Toasting the bread before brushing the garlic butter and oil on it is a super important step! It makes it so that the bread doesn't become soggy when it  gets baked the second time. 

When we are in Italy, I make this salad almost everyday and it's a perfect side salad to serve with this lasagne too. To make it, throw together some chopped escarole, romaine, red onion, giardiniera and shaved fennel in a salad bowl. Then make the dressing by combining a couple tablespoons of honey or superfine sugar with  a few tablespoons of white wine vinegar (or prosecco vinegar), about 1/2 cup of EVOO, the juice of 1 lemon and a sprinkle of granulated garlic, dried parsley, fennel pollen and salt in a squeeze bottle and shake to combine. I like to use both vinegar and lemon in this dressing for both flavors but feel free to use what you have on hand, the ratio of oil to acid should be 3:1. I usually eyeball the amounts but always taste what you make and adjust as needed. This dressing is also great to make a big batch of and hold onto to use for salad another day.