Filo dough lasagna: Simplified recipe of classic Italian dish
Illustrative photo (Freepik)
The well-known Italian dish, lasagna, is traditionally made using special lasagna sheets, which sometimes require pre-boiling. However, using filo dough for this dish is just as delicious and it significantly simplifies the preparation, according to culinary blogger grenache_rose's Instagram page.
Ingredients
To prepare this classic dish with phyllo dough in a 26 cm diameter pan, you will need the following ingredients:
- Ground meat - 400 g
- Filo dough - 500 g
- Flour - 50 g
- Milk - 500 ml
- Cheese - 150 g
- Butter - 50 g
- Carrot (large) - 1 pc.
- Tomatoes - 3-4 pcs.
- Onion (large) - 1 pc.
- Nutmeg - a pinch
- Salt - a pinch
- Oil - for frying
- Spices - to taste
Directions
Prepare the lasagna filling. To do this, peel and chop the onion, wash and peel the carrot, and grate it on a coarse grater.
Heat a frying pan with oil and add the onion, lightly fry it until softened, add the carrot, mix the ingredients, and fry until half-cooked.
Wash the tomatoes, then blanch them by carefully scalding them with boiling water, and then placing them in ice water. This will help peel the skin off easily. After this, blend the tomatoes into a paste using a blender.
Add the prepared tomato sauce to the vegetables in the pan. If desired, add Italian herbs or other spices to your taste, pour in half a cup of water, cover the pan with a lid, and stew the vegetables for 7-10 minutes.
Next, add the ground meat and fry everything until cooked, breaking up the meat lumps.
To prepare the béchamel sauce, heat the butter in a small thick-bottomed saucepan. When the butter becomes liquid, add the flour and fry until golden.
The flour needs to be stirred to prevent burning. Then, pour the milk into the saucepan and cook until the sauce thickens, constantly stirring the mixture.
Add nutmeg and salt to the thickened sauce, stir, and cook the sauce for another 2 minutes. Remove the ready sauce from the heat and let it cool.
Grate the cheese on a coarse or medium grater. Grease the bottom of the pan with about 1/3 of the béchamel sauce. Cut the filo dough in half, and divide the sheets into three parts.
Lay one part at the bottom of the pan on top of the sauce. Place a portion of the meat with vegetables on the dough and drizzle with sauce, leaving some for the next layers. Place dough sheets on the sauce, followed by the meat and sauce.
Repeat until all ingredients are used up, and sprinkle the lasagna with grated cheese. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the dish for 45 minutes.
