Classic Baked Lasagne

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Butter a 13-×-9-inch baking dish.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until it begins to soften. Turn the heat up to high, add the veal, and cook until the veal loses its pink color. Reduce the heat and add the broth, tomato sauce, carrots, sugar, and salt and pepper to taste. Add enough water (or broth) to cover and mix the ingredients well. Cover and simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes or so and adding more water or broth if the pan becomes dry. Turn off the heat, discard the carrots, and adjust the salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Pour the veal ragù into a large mixing bowl.

To make the béchamel, melt the 8 tablespoons of butter in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over low heat, being careful not to let it brown. Add the flour all at once, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon until the butter absorbs all the flour, about 2 minutes. Gradually pour in the milk, whisking constantly. Cook, still whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. Raise the heat to medium and bring the béchamel to a low boil. Cook at a low boil for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in the nutmeg and take the béchamel off the heat. If you have lumps, stir very quickly to remove. Pour the béchamel into the bowl with the veal ragù and stir to mix them together. When you are boiling the pasta, add a ladleful or more of hot pasta water to the ragù to loosen it.

Place a clean dishtowel on your work surface for draining the lasagne after they are cooked. Bring a large soup pot of water to a boil. Stir in a small fistful of salt and add the lasagne about 4 at a time—it’s important that they don’t touch in the pot—and cook until the pasta is al dente. Lift the lasagne out of the pot with a slotted spoon and lay them carefully in 1 layer on the dishcloth. Cover with another damp dishcloth and continue until you have cooked all the lasagne.

Place a layer of lasagne over the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Rip the lasagne into smaller pieces to fit into the edges and corners. Spread a layer of the veal-béchamel sauce evenly over the lasagne and sprinkle with a light layer of grated Parmesan cheese. Continue until you have used all the ingredients. Scatter the butter pieces over the last layer.

Place the lasagne in the oven to bake for about 30 minutes, until the top is golden brown. Serve immediately in the same pan you cooked it in, with grated Parmesan at the table.