Unlike the heavy red-sauced lasagna we are all familiar with, this Southern Italian-style version produces an extremely delicate and light egg and tomato sauce that puffs when the lasagna is cooked, giving it a soufflé-like appearance.
- Category: Veal Recipes
Ingredients
For the Filling:
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 1 large yellow onion, minced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 pounds ground veal
- 8 ounces spinach, trimmed
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- salt and pepper, to taste
For the Sauce:
- 7 tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- 1 (15-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 8 eggs
For Assembly:
- 1 package Lasagna pasta sheets, fresh or dried
- 1 1/2 cups Point Reyes Farmstead Toma Cheese, grated
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
Instructions
Make the Filling:
- Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a large skillet over medium-high.
- Cook onion until golden, 6–8 minutes; add garlic until fragrant; transfer to a bowl.
- Add remaining butter and ground veal to skillet; cook, breaking up meat into small pieces, until browned, 6–8 minutes; transfer to bowl with onion mixture.
- Add spinach to the skillet; cook until wilted, 1–2 minutes; transfer to a colander to drain. Squeeze spinach dry, roughly chop, and add to bowl with veal and onion mixture.
- Stir filling mixture while adding nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
Make the Sauce:
- Melt 2 tbsp. butter in a medium size saucepan, over medium heat.
- Add garlic to saucepan and cook until golden, 1–2 minutes.
- Add crushed tomatoes, salt and pepper; cook until thickened, 8–10 minutes, and let cool.
- Purée milk and eggs in a blender until smooth.
- Add cooled tomato sauce mixture, salt and pepper; pulse 2 to 3 times until just combined.
Pasta:
- Cook Lasagna sheets, fresh or dried, as directed on package.
Assemble and Bake Lasagna:
- Heat oven to 375°.
- Grease a 9”x13” deep baking dish with butter.
- Lay 2 lasagna sheets in prepared dish, overlapping slightly.
- Sprinkle 1 1⁄2 cups filling over top and drizzle with 1 cup sauce; sprinkle with 1⁄2 cup Toma, about 5 oz. mozzarella, and dot with 1 tbsp. chilled butter.
- Repeat layering lasagna sheets, filling, sauce, cheeses, and butter.
- Cover lasagna with greased parchment paper or aluminum foil;
- Bake until filling is set, about 45 minutes.
- Heat oven broiler. Uncover lasagna; broil until cheese is browned, 2–3 minutes.