Philippe Etchebest reveals his recipe for this essential part of Italian cuisine

On his YouTube channel, chef Philippe Etchebest regularly reveals recipes. This time, he tackles a staple of Italian cuisine: beef lasagna. The name of this dish originally comes from the name of the pasta used, which is rectangular and long. If we are to believe the history of this dish, its first traces date back to Antiquity, before becoming the dish we know today. Generally, it consists of this famous pasta, cheese – ricotta, mozzarella or parmesan –, béchamel sauce or bolognese sauce.

Philippe Etchebest’s beef lasagna recipe

Ingredients for 6 people:

For the lasagna dough:

• 175 g of flour
• 130 g egg yolks (about 6 large yolks)
• 1/2 tsp. tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 pinches of salt

For the béchamel:

• 30g butter
• 30 g of flour
• 45 cl of milk
• Salt

For the crushed:

• 5 tomatoes
• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp. tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• Salt
• 3 pinches of chili powder

For the meat stuffing:

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp. tablespoon of olive oil
• 600 g ground beef
• 20 cl of beef stock
• Salt and pepper

The preparation steps:

To make this recipe, the chef prepared fresh lasagna. However, to save time, there are ready-made ones, in a dry version, which simply need to be rehydrated before assembling the dish. Otherwise, to find Philippe Etchebest’s pasta recipe as well as that of béchamel, you can go to his site.

1. Remove the stalk from the tomatoes, cut them crosswise at the base. Immerse the tomatoes in a pan of boiling water for 30 seconds before cooling them in an ice water bath then remove the skin. The chef uses beef heart tomatoes which are excellent in taste.
2. Cut the tomatoes. Slice two onions (one for the crushed one, and one for the stuffing), chop the garlic, and brown them in a sauté pan with the olive oil. Add the crushed tomatoes, chili pepper, thyme, salt and let everything stew over medium heat.
3. Heat a second pan with olive oil, brown the chopped onion and garlic. Add the meat and cook over high heat until it starts to stick. Then, deglaze with beef stock or a broth of your choice. Let cook until completely reduced.
4. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
5. When the crushed tomatoes and the beef stuffing have completely reduced, remove the thyme then combine the two preparations in a bowl and mix well.
6. Brush a rectangular dish with olive oil. Spread a first layer of béchamel, a layer of meat stuffing then add the lasagna sheets. Repeat the process until the dish is full. For the last layer, place lasagna sheets, top with béchamel and finish with grated cheese. The chef specifies that it is entirely possible to replace gruyere with parmesan, which is generally more expensive.
7. Bake for 20-25 min at 200°C.

Enjoy your food !

How to store lasagna?

What to do if you have leftovers? You can of course place your lasagna in the refrigerator having covered your dish well with aluminum foil. Generally, it can be kept for 3 to 5 days.