INGREDIENTS
FOR 4 PEOPLE
1 package Rummo Lasagne No. 83
500 g mix of ground beef and veal
70 g bread
2 eggs
1 each, onion and carrot
1-1/2 700g bottles or cans tomato purée
Basil, to taste
200 g freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano
300 g ricotta
400 g mozzarella
DIRECTIONS
First, prepare the meatballs: put the ground beef and veal in a bowl together with salt, eggs, a bit less than a quarter of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano (following your instincts in search of the right texture, as egg sizes can vary). Add bread with crusts removed, cut into small cubes (alternatively, you can also use breadcrumbs). Mix well with your hands and form many small meatballs about an inch (2.5 cm) in diameter. In a sauté pan, heat extra-virgin olive oil over low heat. Place the onion cut in halves and the carrot (whole) into the pan and sauté, to infuse oil with flavor. Add the tomato purée, a pinch of salt and cook for 40 minutes with a lid. Once ready, add many basil leaves and stir. Meanwhile, cook the meatballs in a sauté pan with extra virgin olive oil, sautéing and stirring often. While they are coooking, cut the mozzarella into cubes and prep the ricotta: season it with freshly grated pepper, pour a ladle of hot water over it and stir, reducing it to a cream. When the tomato sauce has finished cooking, add a handful of basil leaves and stir. Cook the Lasagne in a pot of salted water according to the recommended cooking time on the pack, transferring them, once cooked, into a bowl filled with cold water to stop the cooking, then place them gently on a dish towel and pat dry. Cover the bottom of an oven dish with the tomato sauce, then place a layer of Lasagna: drape pieces side-by-side letting one end drape over the edge (leaving enough to “seal” the dish when all layers have been added) while the other ends meet in the middle, covering the tomato sauce. Add another thin layer of sauce, dollops of the ricotta cream, 1/3 of the meatballs, fresh basil leaves, mozzarella and grated Parmigiano Reggiano. Begin the next round with lasagne sheets (these do not need to lap over the sides) and the other ingredients as before, and continue in the same way until you make 3 layers. Finally, close the Lasagna with the first sheets you had left on the outside. After adding the sauce and a final sprinkling of Parmigiano Reggiano, cook in the oven at 350° F for 40 minutes. Once ready, serve.