Lasagne with Meatballs (Lasagne con Polpette)

It seems to be a bit of an Italian week of meals for the Culinary Chase household! I love lasagna and meatballs but I’ve never had the two together in one dish. There are oodles of meatball recipes from different countries. Check out In Mommas Kitchen for the list. Lasagna has been around for ages but there was a bit of a dispute as to whether it hails from Italy or Britain! Yes, you read correctly. While researching historically accurate meals for a medieval banquet to be staged at Berkeley Castle, Maurice Bacon and his team found a recipe for ‘loseyns‘ in an ‘old’ cookbook. (The text in question, the Forme of Cury, is often cited as the world’s oldest surviving recipe book, having been commissioned by Britain’s Richard II c.1390). More on this, click here.

Serves 6-8
recipe from TasteItalia magazine

275g minced beef
275g minced pork
1 large egg
50g fresh white breadcrumbs
5 tablespoons Parmesan or Grana Padano, grated
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans of chopped Italian plum tomatoes
150ml water
2 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano or basil
6-8 no bake lasagne sheets

For the Bechamel Sauce:
700ml milk
1 bay leaf and 1 sprig of thyme
50g unsalted butter
50g Italian ’00’ flour or plain flour

Put 175g of each of the beef and pork in a bowl. Add the egg, breadcrumbs, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, half the parsley and half the garlic. Mix together, then using your hand knead the mixture until smooth. Roll small pieces of the mixture with you hand to create 30 balls. Place on a baking tray and chill for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, for the bechamel sauce put the milk in a saucepan. Add the bay and thyme and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and leave to infuse.

Make the meat sauce: heat half the oil in saucepan, add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, then stir over a low heat for 5 minutes. Add the remaining meats and cook for 10 minutes. Season, then add the tomatoes, water, parsley and oregano. Stir, cover and simmer for 45-60 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Heat the remaining oil in a large frying pan. Once hot, cook the meatballs 5-8 minutes until browned all over. Preheat oven to 180c (350f). Strain the milk to remove the bay and thyme. Melt the butter in a saucepan, and stir in the flour; heat 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the milk gradually. Bring to a boil then turn heat down to low, stirring until thick. Remove from heat.

Spread one third of the meat sauce over the bottom of a large baking dish. Add half the meatballs, spread with one third of the bechamel and cover with half of the lasagne sheets. Repeat the layers,then top with the remaining meat sauce and bechamel. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 45-50 minutes.

The Culinary Chase’s Note: Make sure the dish you use to cook the lasagne in is deep enough to accommodate the two levels of meatballs. Mine turned out a bit messy but flavors were amazing. Two of my favorite Italian dishes combined….delicious! Great as a leftover the next day. Enjoy!