Bobby Flay Lasagna is built from four separate components, including a bolognese made with pork and beef shanks. The dish serves six to eight and bakes for just under an hour. Tomato sauce, ricotta, bechamel and that bolognese all get made before anything is layered.
Flay made this for the lasagna episode of Throwdown, and the bolognese uses six pounds of bone-in shank. Three pounds of pork and three of beef braise in the oven for two hours until the meat falls off. He then shreds it and reduces the braising liquid to three quarters of a cup.
The ricotta has to drain in cheesecloth for at least four hours before it goes anywhere near the pan. Wet ricotta releases its water into the layers and leaves you cutting slices that slump. Four hours is the floor, and overnight is better.
4
servings30
minutes40
minutes300
kcalThree layers of pasta go in, ricotta under the first and bolognese under the second, so the structure is simpler than it looks. The bechamel is really a mornay, since fontina and Parmigiano are whisked in at the end.
Ingredients
- For the Tomato Sauce:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large Spanish onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
2 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- For the Bolognese Sauce:
4 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds pork shanks (on the bone)
3 pounds beef shanks (on the bone)
3/4 pound pancetta, finely diced
1 1/2 cups finely diced Spanish onion
1/2 cup finely diced carrot
1/2 cup finely diced celery
4 whole garlic cloves
1 cup dry red wine
3 cups homemade beef or chicken stock
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes and their juices
4 fresh thyme sprigs, 3 rosemary sprigs, 6 parsley sprigs
1 cup Tomato Sauce, from above
- For the Ricotta Mixture:
3 cups ricotta, strained in a cheesecloth lined strainer for at least 4 hours
2 large eggs
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- For the Bechamel (Mornay) Sauce:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 to 2 1/2 cups whole milk, heated
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg
3/4 cup grated fontina cheese
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
- For Assembly:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 fresh pasta sheets, cooked 2 to 3 minutes, or 1 pound lasagna noodles cooked slightly under al dente
Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano and fresh basil leaves
Directions
- Make the tomato sauce: Heat the oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the onion and cook until soft, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and chili flakes and cook 1 minute, then add the tomatoes, bring to a boil, season and cook until reduced and thickened, 25 to 30 minutes. Stir in the parsley and basil.
- Braise the shanks: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat, season the shanks and brown about 4 minutes per side, then remove. Pour off the fat, brown the pancetta and remove with a slotted spoon. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic and cook until lightly golden, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the wine and reduce completely, then the stock, diced tomatoes and herbs. Return the shanks and a third of the pancetta, cover and braise in the oven until falling off the bone, about 2 hours.
- Finish the bolognese: Shred the shank meat into bite-size pieces. Strain the cooking liquid, put 3 cups in a large high-sided saute pan and boil until reduced to about 3/4 cup. Add the shredded meat, remaining pancetta, 1 cup tomato sauce, parsley and basil and heat through.
- Make the ricotta and bechamel: Stir the strained ricotta with the eggs, parsley, basil, Parmigiano, salt and pepper; cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. For the bechamel, melt the butter, whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes, then slowly whisk in 2 cups hot milk and cook until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper and whisk in the fontina and Parmigiano, loosening with more milk if needed.
- Layer and bake: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F and butter a 9 by 13-inch dish. Ladle a thin layer of bechamel, add pasta, spread the ricotta mixture, more bechamel, Parmesan and basil. Add pasta, spread the bolognese, more bechamel, Parmesan and basil. Top with a final pasta layer, cover completely with bechamel and 3 tablespoons Parmesan. Cover loosely with foil and bake 20 minutes, then reduce to 350 degrees F, uncover and bake 25 to 35 minutes more until golden and bubbling. Rest 10 minutes before cutting and serve with the remaining tomato sauce.
Food Network notes this recipe has been updated and may differ from what was broadcast. No nutrition is published, so the calorie figure is estimated from the ingredients at six servings.
The listed time is the least accurate number on the page.
FAQs
Is this really 3 hours 20 minutes?
No, and the gap is not small. The ricotta alone strains four hours before you start, the bolognese braises two in the oven, and the ricotta mixture chills another hour. Count on a full day, or split it in two: sauces and bolognese one day, assembly and baking the next.
Can I use ground beef instead of shanks?
You can, and it becomes a different dish entirely, closer to a weeknight bolognese. Bone-in shank gives collagen that turns the braising liquid into something glossy, which ground meat cannot do. Two pounds of ground chuck and pork will work if six pounds of shank is not realistic.
How much tomato sauce does the lasagna actually use?
Only one cup goes into the bolognese, and the rest is spooned over the slices at the table. That recipe makes close to six cups from two large cans plus one small, so expect leftovers. Freeze what remains, since it is a decent sauce on its own.
My lasagna slid apart when I cut it.
Picture the pan coming out of the oven: ten minutes of resting is the minimum and most people cut at three. The layers need that time to set, and bechamel in particular firms as it cools. Unstrained ricotta is the other usual cause.
Fresh pasta sheets or dried noodles?
Cooking fresh sheets takes two to three minutes, while dried noodles need about five and should come out slightly under al dente. Dried works fine and the recipe says so, though fresh sheets sit flatter in a 9 by 13 pan. For a simpler build with sausage, there is this zucchini and sausage lasagna.
Can I make it ahead?
Assemble the whole thing a day ahead, cover and refrigerate, then add fifteen minutes to the covered bake. The bolognese and tomato sauce both improve overnight anyway, which makes splitting the work sensible. A meatless version with the same bechamel approach is this portobello white lasagna.
