This was an excellent soul food dish. The sauce is like a traditional Italian ragù (aka bolognese), which is so much better than the northern European version of ragù. Like lasagna this really benefits from a night in the fridge (intensifies the flavors a bit) so be sure to make enough to last for lunch the day after.
What you need:
500 g penne
125 g mozarella, in small pieces
150 ml parmesan cheese, grated
For the ragù:
300 g mince meat
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
3 pieces of celery, thinly sliced
2 carrots, in small pieces
500 g crushed tomatoes
200 ml red wine
10 basil leafs
50 ml olive oil
2 teaspoons of salt
1 pinch of sugar
For the béchamelsauce:
1.5 desert spoon of butter
1.5 desert spoon of flour
300 ml milk
3 pinches of salt
About 1 pinch of white pepper
About 1 pinch of nutmeg
How it’s done:
Heat the oil for the mince in a big pot. Add the mince, celery, carrots, onion and garlic. Separate the mince a bit with a fork.
Add the tomatoes, wine, basil, salt and sugar and boil under a lid for about 30 minutes.
Melt the butter for the béchamelsauce in a pot on low heat. Add the flour and mix properly. Add the milk gradually and whisk all the time. Boil the sauce on low heat for 5 minutes and whisk occasionally. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg according to your taste.
Turn on the oven, 225 C.
Boil the pasta according to the packet. I would recommend al dente.
Coat an ovenproof pot with butter. Add half the pasta and then put half of the ragù and béchamelsauce on top. Add 1/3 of the parmesan cheese and all the mozarella.
Put the rest of the pasta on top and then put the rest of the ragù and béchamelsauce on top of that as well as the remaining parmesan cheese.
Bake it in the oven for 20 minutes.
