yoo hoo -- any Italians out there?

[grasswire]

I know there are Italians here, of course.

I'm wondering if you've seen the cover recipe on the latest Gourmet magazine and what you think of it. It's a lasagne bolognese and they call it the best lasagne recipe ever.

Very little cheese -- only 9 T of reggiano. Thin, thin homemade noodles with spinach leaves incorporated. A bechamel with nutmeg and a ragu.

It looks delicious. The crostini with broccoli rabe a few pages later made me drool, too.

[The empressof all]

1. Yes it does look good

But I love most lasagna. My favorite though is the NJ standard made with sausage, beef, ricotta, mozzerella, parm, good red gravy and a little bechemel. It needs to be at least 4 inches thick.

[Stinky The Clown]

2. I'm not so sure how "Italian" it is .......

I guess that depends on how one defines "Italian" food (or any ethnic food, really).

I've not seen the recipe, but it sounds very nice. However, it isn't like anything I remember growing up.

The "Italian" I know from growing up isn't really "Italian" either. It is immigrant Italian cooking ..... the application of Italian recipes and methods to ingredients available locally. To be sure, the food was Italian, in every sense. But so too was it different from what was made (at the time) in the old country.

Our lasagne was a simple affair, really. A long-simmered ragu made with some kind of meat - it varied with what was available. The noddles were almost always Ronzoni (the closest one could then get to what was available in Italy). Ricotta, and parmesan, no bechamel. There may or may not have been meat layered in it.

[grasswire]

3. it's a recipe that Mario Batali picked up...

....in a recent trip to the Old Country.

Ragu:
5 T EVOO
3T unsalted butter
1 carrot finely chopped
1 medium onion finely chopped
1 celery rib finely chopped
1 garlic clove thinly sliced
1/4 lb. sliced pancetta, cut into quarters
1 lb ground veal
1 lb ground pork (not lean)
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 cup whole milk
1 cup dry white wine
1 t salt
1/2 t black pepper

Pasta dough:
1 T salt
1 cup firmly packed fresh spinach
4 XL eggs
1/2 t EVOO
about 4 cups unbleached all purpose flour

Besciamela:
5 T unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
3 cups whole milk
1/2 t nutmeg

for assembling:
2 T salt
2 T EVOO
9 T finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano

Don't have time now to put in all the directions; can do later if someone wants them.