palatable palette – shinjite's kitchen canvas

i was planning to make lasagna but since i had some leftover ground beef, i thought i’d try a meaty lasagna for dinner tonight! so i found this yummy sloppy lasagna recipe from rachael ray.

since i was originally going to make my vegetarian lasagna, i only had enough ingredients for the half of the sloppy lasagna recipe. so i decided to shake things up and have one layer of sloppy lasagna and one layer of my spinach lasagna! If you want to do this, use 1/2 of this meat sauce recipe and 1/2 of the spinach lasagna recipe.

vegetarian lasagna or meaty lasagna – or both, i love it!

Ingredients

For the pasta

• 2 pounds curly edge lasagna noodles

For the meat sauce

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, grated or finely chopped
• 1 head garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 pinches ground cinnamon
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 (28-ounce) can tomatoes
• A handful basil leaves, torn
• 4 tablespoons margarine
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cup milk, eyeball the amount
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 1-1/2 cups grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 2 cups fresh ricotta cheese

Preparation

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over medium heat. Break the pasta into irregular, larger than single bite-sized pieces. Put into boiling water and cook to a little shy of al dente. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.

Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a heavy bottomed pot or large skillet over medium heat. Add the meat, press it into an even layer and brown it for 3 to 4 minutes before moving. Turn the meat and add the onions and grated carrot. Stir and cook a few minutes to soften, then add the garlic, bay leaves, salt and pepper, to taste, and the cinnamon. Cook for a couple of minutes, then stir in the tomato paste, wait for 1 minute then add the stock. Reduce for a minute more, then add the tomatoes, breaking them up as you stir. Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the basil.

While the sauce simmers, in a medium sauce pot, melt the butter over medium heat and whisk in the flour. Cook for 1 minute, then whisk in the milk and nutmeg, and season with salt, pepper, to taste. Let cook for a couple of minutes to thicken, then stir in 1/2 cup of the grated cheese and turn off the heat.

Heat a broiler.

Add the meat sauce to the bowl with the pasta and toss. Layer half of the pasta into a lasagna pan and scatter with dollops of fresh ricotta cheese. Top with remaining pasta. Pour the white sauce over the pasta and scatter the remaining 1 cup of the grated cheese over the top. Put under the broiler to brown and bubble. Remove from the broiler and serve.

________________________________________________________________________________
original recipe from 30 Minute Meals: Sloppy Lasagna