Creamy White Turkey Lasagna Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the white sauce in lasagna made of? ›

A classic French sauce, a béchamel is made with flour, butter, and milk. It is used in many dishes from lasagna to macaroni and cheese to gratins and casseroles to croque monsieur. The butter and flour are cooked together in a heavy-bottomed saucepan to form a thick paste (the roux) before milk is added.

Begin Layering

After the initial sauce layer, add a layer of pasta sheets, ricotta mixture (or bechamel), sauce, and cheese. Then repeat the layers. Top the last layer of your lasagna with sauce and cheese. You can also alternate layers of sauce and ricotta cheese.

Carry on alternating the tomato sauce, lasagne sheets and white sauce until you get to the top of the dish, or your sauces run out! Finish off your lasagne either with a layer of tomato-based sauce or with your white sauce – whichever you have left – and then grate over plenty of Parmigiano-Reggiano.

And finally, to avoid your lasagne drying out, cover the top with foil while it's baking, then remove it halfway through so that the top can brown nicely.

White sauce – also known as béchamel – is made with flour, milk, and butter. It's a basic sauce that can be used as a base for other sauces or as a topping for dishes like lasagna. Alfredo sauce, on the other hand, is made with butter, cream, and Parmesan cheese, and has a much richer flavour than white sauce.

Cornstarch: Make a slurry of half water, half cornstarch and whisk until smooth. Cornstarch is a powerful thickener, so start by whisking in no more than 1 tablespoon of the mixture per 2 cups of simmering sauce; stir and simmer for 2 minutes, check the thickness, and repeat with more slurry as needed.

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until cheese is golden brown, 5 to 10 more minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

It is best to start and finish with wider layers, so if you have less than 16 noodles, put your extra noodles in the bottom or top layers. (For the purposes of this recipe, I'll assume you have 15 noodles.) Line the bottom of the prepared baking dish with 4 cooked lasagna noodles, overlapping them.

A good tomato paste helps to thicken but also adds a sweet and savory umami flavor. Lean Ground Beef: Lean beef adds a robust and hearty meatiness that's essential in a classic lasagna recipe.

Why does my lasagna go sloppy? ›

It's important that you don't add too much liquid to the sauce – lasagne shouldn't be a sloppy dish. Our recipe balances the quantities to deliver well-defined pasta layers while avoiding dryness. Using the right ingredients can also make all the difference in this comforting classic.

Once the lasagna is made, bake at 375 degrees covered with foil for about 45 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 minutes. At the end you can broil for just a couple of minutes if you want the cheese to get nice and browned! Top with dried parsley, Parmesan cheese, and serve!

Use the oven-ready (no boil) lasagna noodles. It absorbs some of the extra liquid released from the cheeses and sauce and keep it firmer. Also, do NOT use part-skim mozzarella or ricotta - use the whole milk versions.

If your lasagna is falling apart it could be because, it is to hot. Let it sit about 5 mins after you pull it out of the oven. Also your sauce could be to thin, if your sauce is watery it will cause your lasagna to not cut properly. Thicken it up by letting it reduce, adding less water or adding a bit of tomato paste.

Milk. It tenderises the meat, to leave you with the most tender ragù.

The Sauces – The white sauce is a homemade bechamel (and could be replaced with ricotta if you prefer), and taking a few extra minutes to make the red sauce, rather than bottled pasta sauce, is so worth the huge improvement in taste!

Béchamel sauce (also known as “besciamella” in Italian), is a creamy 3-ingredient white sauce made from butter, flour and milk. It's most commonly used for mac & cheese and lasagna Bolognese, but plays a key role in many authentic Italian pasta dishes, pizza sauces and casseroles.

White Sauce Pasta is simply cooked pasta mixed with a silky smooth & decadent white sauce made of milk, butter and flour. White Sauce also known as Bechamel Sauce has its origin from the Italian & French Cuisines.