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Braised Short Rib Lasagna

The kind of lasagna that sticks to your ribs in all the best ways
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Prep Time 4 hours
Cook Time 45 minutes
Servings: 8
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 5-6 bone-in beef short ribs
  • 1 large yellow onion
  • 1 large carrot
  • 2 celery stalks
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 2 tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon crushed Calabrian peppers
  • 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
  • ½ cup dry red wine
  • 4 cups passata or strained tomatoes
  • 1 beef cube or 1 teaspoon concentrated paste
  • 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
  • 4 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 500g oven-ready lasagna sheets
  • 8 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup all purpose flour
  • 2 ½ cups cold whole milk
  • ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 cups parmesan (divided) plus more for topping
  • 2 tablespoon neutral oil
  • salt I'm using Diamond Crystal Kosher
  • cracked black pepper

Method
 

  1. Preheat oven to 275°F. Finely dice 1 large onion, 1 large carrot, 2 celery stalks and 3 cloves of garlic. Set aside.
  2. Season 5-6 short ribs all over with 2 teaspoon salt. Heat a dutch oven on medium high and add 2 tablespoon neutral oil. Just before smoking, add in your short ribs and cook until deep golden brown on at least 3 sides. Remove and set aside.
  3. Back in the dutch oven turn heat to medium and add diced onion, carrot, celery and garlic to the rendered beef fat. Season generously with ½ teaspoon salt and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoon tomato paste, 1 tablespoon crushed Calabrian peppers and 2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar. Cook until the tomato paste starts to caramelize on the bottom of the pan, about 3 minutes.
  4. Deglaze with ½ cup red wine and cook until the alcohol smell is gone. Add in 4 cups passata and 1 teaspoon concentrated beef broth paste/cube. Transfer your browned short ribs to the braising liquid and nestle in your thyme, rosemary and bay leaves. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover and transfer to the oven. Bake at 275°F for 3.5 hours, or until fork tender and falling off the bone.
  5. Remove beef ribs, discard bones and any firm muscle tissue, and shred remaining beef into small pieces, then add back to the sauce. Optional, but recommended: before adding the beef, use an immersion blender to blend the sauce — this will give you a super smooth ragù, and help blend some of the fat back into the sauce, leaving you with a less "oil-y" and more "sauce-y" lasagna.
  6. Preheat oven to 375°F and lightly grease a 9"x13" baking dish with olive oil.
  7. In a small sauce pan, melt 8 tablespoon butter, once foaming slowly whisk in ½ cup flour until a paste forms. Continue whisking while gradually pouring in 2 ½ cups cold whole milk. Mix in 1 cup grated parmesan, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg and lots of cracked black pepper. Continue cooking until thickened.
  8. To your greased baking dish add ½ cup short rib ragù, followed by 3-4 oven ready lasagna sheets, another ¾ cup ragù and ⅓ cup bèchamel. Continue until you reach the top — or run out of sauce! On the final layer, dollop the bèchamel instead of spreading it, and cover in remaining 1 cup grated parmesan.
  9. Cover in foil and bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, then remove foil and continue baking for 10 minutes, or until crispy and bubbling on the edges. If it's not yet browned on top, turn your oven to broil and cook until you start to see some nice browning. Remove and let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Make ahead option: Follow instructions up to Step 8. Cover in a layer of parchment paper, then wrap tightly in foil. Transfer to the freezer where it will keep for up to 3 months. When ready to bake, thaw overnight in the fridge, then remove parchment and cover in foil. Bake at 375°F for 30 minutes, remove foil and continue cooking for 10 minutes, or until crispy and bubbling.