Angelini Osteria is arguably the best Italian restaurant in Los Angeles, and if you ever have the pleasure of dining in this elegant eatery, you must order the lasagna. Gino Angelini named his famous lasagna after his nonna Elvira (though as Gino will tell you, Elvira thought his version was too light), that simply glistens with green sheets of pasta and oozes with bechamel and mouthwatering ragù.
If you’re ready to go on a lasagna journey where you make everything from scratch, tuck in for a few hours because the end result is more than worth the long ride.
Lasagna Verde recipe by chef Gino Angelini
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the pasta:
200 g double zero flour (7oz)
200 g spinach (7oz)
2 whole eggs
1 pinch of sale
For the ragù:
100 g lean ground beef (3.5 oz)
100 g lean ground veal (3.5 oz)
100 g chicken livers cut in small pieces (3.5 oz)
50 g butter (3.5 Tbps)
1 carrot finely chopped
1 stalk of celery finely chopped
1 small onion finely chopped
1 small black truffle finely chopped
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1 cup of water
½ glass of San Giovese Di Romagna wine
salt and pepper to taste
For the béchamel:
40 g flour (1.4 oz)
50 g butter (3.5 Tbps)
½ liter of milk (2 cups)
salt and pepper to taste
90 g Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
For the fried spinach:
1 liter of extra virgin olive oil (1 quart)
Method:
For the ragù: In a casserole dish, sauté the carrots, celery, and onion with the butter. Add the ground veal, ground beef, and chicken livers. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let this cook until the meat is gently cooked. Dilute the tomato paste with the cup of water. Add the tomato paste and water mixture. Allow this to simmer, uncovered, for about five minutes. Add the red wine and continue to simmer uncovered for one hour, stirring occasionally.
For the pasta: Wash the spinach and reserve 1 cup of spinach leaves on the side for the fried spinach garnish. Cook the spinach in boiling water. Drain the water and carefully dry the spinach with a cloth. Place the double zero flour on a wood board and place the spinach on top. Add the pinch of salt and the eggs. Mix this together for about 10 minutes, forming a pasta dough. Roll out the pasta dough in very thin layers that matches the size of the lasagna pan you’ll be cooking in. Cook pasta sheets one or two at a time for about 1 minute in salted boiling water. When you remove the pasta sheets, immediately place in ice cold water to stop cooking process, then dry pasta sheets with a towel or on a drying rack. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
For the béchamel sauce: Melt the butter in a saucepan on low heat. Add the flour and continue to cook for 3 minutes. Let the butter/flour mixture cool down. Separately, boil the milk. Add the boiled milk to the cooled butter/flour mixture. Add the chopped black truffle. Add salt and pepper to taste. Cook this mixture for five minutes on low heat, stirring with a wood spoon
Assembling the Lasagna:
Butter the bottom and sides of the pan. Place a layer of pasta on the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of béchamel. Add a layer of ragù. Add a little Parmigiano-Reggiano. Repeat these layers until pan is full. The last layer of pasta is topped with a very thin layer of bechamel with a sprinkle of Parmigiano-Reggiano and a sprinkling of melted butter. Cook lasagna for 30-35 minutes at 400 degrees. Allow lasagna to rest for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Fried Spinach:
Heat the olive oil until very hot. Add the reserved spinach leaves for about 30-60 seconds. Pat the fried spinach in a paper towel. Garnish each portion of lasagna with a handful of fried spinach.