No.5 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Lasagne alla bolognese

Made famous by Marcella Hazan

Photo: Rebecca Siegel, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, 1992.

Lasagna is the baked pasta the whole world makes for a crowd. The Bolognese original, with ragù and béchamel, is the one the rest are measured against.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Ingredients

• For the ragù: 3 tbsp olive oil and 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup (70 g) finely chopped onion, 2/3 cup (80 g) finely chopped celery, 2/3 cup (80 g) finely chopped carrot
• 1 1/2 lb (680 g) ground beef chuck (not lean)
• Fine salt and black pepper
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
• 1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
• One 28-oz (800 g) can whole peeled tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
• For the béchamel: 3 cups (720 ml) whole milk, 6 tbsp (85 g) unsalted butter, 1/2 cup (60 g) all-purpose flour, 1/4 tsp fine salt
• About 1 lb (450 g) fresh lasagne sheets, or 12 oz (340 g) dried, no-boil not recommended
• 1 1/2 cups (150 g) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 tbsp butter, for dotting

Steps

1. Make the ragù: warm the oil and butter in a heavy pot over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent, about 5 minutes, then add the celery and carrot and cook 2 minutes, stirring.
2. Add the beef, a large pinch of salt and some pepper. Break it up and cook just until it loses its raw red color; don't brown it hard.
3. Pour in the milk and simmer, stirring now and then, until it has bubbled away completely, about 10 minutes. Add the nutmeg.
4. Add the wine and simmer until it has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes.
5. Once it bubbles, turn the heat to the lowest it goes so only an occasional bubble breaks the surface. Cook uncovered at least 3 hours, stirring now and then; add 1/4 cup water whenever it starts to stick. It is done when it is thick, glossy and the fat separates around the edges. Taste for salt.
6. Make the béchamel: warm the milk until steaming. In another pan, melt the butter over low heat, whisk in the flour and cook 2 minutes without browning. Off the heat, add the hot milk a little at a time, whisking. Return to low heat with the salt and cook, stirring, until it coats a spoon like heavy cream, about 5 minutes.
7. Cook the pasta sheets a few at a time in salted boiling water until just tender (30 seconds for fresh, a minute short of the package time for dried). Lift into a bowl of cold water, then lay them flat on clean towels.
8. Heat the oven to 400F (200C). Butter a 9 by 13-inch baking dish. Spread a thin layer of béchamel in the bottom and cover with a layer of pasta, trimming to fit.
9. Spread a thin layer of ragù, then of béchamel, then sprinkle with Parmigiano. Repeat to make at least 6 layers of pasta, keeping each layer of sauce thin. Finish with béchamel, a heavy layer of Parmigiano and the dots of butter.
10. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges with a golden crust on top. Rest 10 minutes before cutting so the layers set.

Chef's tips

• The ragù keeps 3 days in the fridge or 3 months frozen.
• Assembled and unbaked, the lasagne keeps a day covered in the fridge; add 10 minutes to the baking time.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan: get the book, No. 3 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

← No. 4Tomato sauce with onion and butter→ No. 6Spaghetti carbonara