I typically use a blend of ground beef, pork and veal for this sauce, but my guests requested turkey, so we substituted ground turkey and it turned out just as well as the beef mix.
Makes enough for one large pan of lasagne.
Turkey Bolognese Lasagna
Ingredients:
Carrots x3
Celery x4
1 White Onion
1 cup Dry White Wine
28oz Can of Crushed Tomatoes x2
1 cup Chicken Broth
1 cup whole milk
Ground Turkey
6oz Can of Tomato Paste
¼ cup Olive Oil
Sea Salt
Fresh Black Pepper
Béchamel:
8 oz. unsalted Butter
2 cups Whole Milk
2 Tbs. Flour
Fresh Nutmeg
To Make Béchamel:
Start Béchamel sauce on low heat and mel the butter; when melted, add two tablespoons of flour and whisk thoroughly for about two minutes until melded but not pasty; add two cups of warm milk and whisk until thickened; season with salt, pepper, nutmeg and set aside.
To Make Bolognese:
Coarsely chop vegetables (by hand or in Cuisinart), add the olive oil to the Dutch oven and add. Cook until translucent but not brown (probably around 10 minutes), season with salt and pepper.
Add one cup of the dry white wine and stir until evaporated. I prefer white wine as it lends a softer balance to the sauce. Then, add one cup of whole milk and stir until evaporated. Add the ground turkey, chopping up and mix into bits so you don’t have patties. Then add two cans of crushed tomatoes, mix thoroughly and add can of tomato paste. Now add one cup of chicken broth, and if sauce is too thick, add water. Simmer on low heat for 1-1 ½ hours and stir periodically until flavors are melded together. Season with salt and pepper periodically, to taste.
To Make Lasagne:
Put ¼ inch of Béchamel sauce on bottom of pan and pour the remainder into the Bolognese sauce.
Add a layer of pasta to pan and top with sauce. Alternate with pasta and sauce until desired number of layers is reached. Top with freshly grated parmesean.
Bake for 30 min to one hour, depending if used fresh or dried pasta.
Serve with freshly grated parmesean and enjoy.
A nice accompaniment to this dish is garlic bread. Here’s a simple recipe.
Garlic Bread
Ingredients:
Loaf of good Bread like Ciabatta or Italian whole loaf
¼ cup Olive Oil
2 Tbsp. Butter, melted
Freshly chopped Garlic, 2-4 cloves
To Make:
Melt butter, olive oil and garlic on stovetop or in microwave.
Cut bread in half and brush the butter mixture thoroughly onto bread
Wrap in heavy aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
A simple, traditional Italian dessert that’s a snap to make is affogato. Here’s how to make it.
Affogato
Ingredients:
Vanilla Ice Cream (good quality)
Espresso
To Make:
Prepare espresso
Scoop ice cream into a glass cup
Pour espresso over ice cream in the cup and enjoy!
