A few days ago we made this stunning meatball and gorgonzola lasagna pie. Chris has been dreaming about it for month and insisted to make it now! As everything is made from scratch it take a few hours to make, but we promise that it is all worth it.

Using meatballs instead of meat sauce in a lasagna makes each bite more flavor intensive and tasty as ingredients (meat, tomato sauce and gorgonzola sauce) are separated in each bite. Another great thing with this lasagna, and our meatballs in general, is that the use of home made croutons seem to make the meatball texture more light than without the croutons.

The third thing that makes this lasagna different from other lasagna is, that it is made as a pie with dough on the sites too.

We make several different kinds of lasagna, but this id definitely one of our favorites which we look forward to make again 😀

 

Ingredients (8-10 servings)

Pasta dough

11 oz. pasta flour (tipo 00)

3 large egg

2 tbsp. olive oil

 

Meatballs

26 oz. pork chops

26 oz. steak

2 large onions

4-5 garlic cloves

2 chilies (choose your favorite)

2 inches ginger (peeled)

1 lemon, zest

2 cups croutons, preferably home made

1 cup parmesan cheese, grated

3 eggs

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

 

Tomato Sauce:

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 shallots, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 cup white wine

1 3/5 cup canned tomatoes

3 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried basil

Salt & pepper

 

Filling

18 oz. mushrooms, fried

 

Gorgonzola sauce

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

3 cups whole milk

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

1/2 cup aged cheddar cheese, shredded

3-4 tbsp. gorgonzola cheese (choose your favorite)

2 tsp. redcurrant jelly

Salt & pepper

 

Garnish

1/2 cup aged cheddar, shredded

Basil

 

 

Pasta dough

Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix until combined. Pour the combined dough onto a slightly floured surface and knead for at least 5 minutes.

Cover the pasta dough in plastic wrap and fridge for 1 hour before rolling it through your pasta machine. When all other ingredients (meatballs, tomato sauce and gorgonzola sauce) are ready you can take the dough out of the fridge and roll it. Some people hang their pasta dough on a stick to dry, but when making lasagna I don’t think that that is necessary. If you choose not to let the pasta plates dry (like me), it is a good idea to roll the dough as you work on, so that it is put into the lasagna immediately after it is rolled.

Meatballs

Chop the meat into 1 inch cubes and run it through a meat mincer together with onions, garlic cloves, ginger and chilies. Add parmesan cheese, lemon zest, croutons, cilantro and eggs and season with salt and pepper and mix until just combined. If you keep mixing you will get a very dense meatball instead of a light and fluffy one.

Take a teaspoon of the of the meat mixture and fry it in a bit of vegetable oil. Taste and season meat mixture again if necessary.

Divide the into 10 pieces and form like balls (the size of a baseball). Place in an oven safe tray, pour the two tbsp. olive oil over the meatballs and bake at 400F for 40 minutes. Let rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.

Tomato sauce

Heat butter and oil in a sauce pan and sauce onions and garlic clove for 4-5 minutes. Add dried herbs and white wine and let cook a medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes before adding canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir and season with salt and pepper and let cook for further 5-10 minutes.

Gorgonzola sauce

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add the flour and thyme leaves. Whisk constantly to make a silky smooth roux. Slowly pour in 1/4 cup milk at a time. Make sure that the milk is incorporated into the sauce before adding more. Let cook at low heat until thickened (whisk constantly to avoid burning), it takes 4-6 minutes. Add redcurrant jelly, shredded aged cheddar and gorgonzola and stir until dissolved. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Grease an ovensafe baking tray with vegetable oil and sprinkle it with flour. Roll 2/5 of the pasta dough on a pasta machine and cover both bottom and sides of the tray. Slice half of the meatballs and place the slices on the tray. Pour half of the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of gorgonzola sauce on top of the sliced meatballs.

Roll half of the remaining pasta dough on the pasta machine and make another lasagna layer. Place the fried mushrooms in in the bottom of the sec on layer. Slice the remaining meatballs and place slices on top of mushrooms followed by the remaining tomato sauce and 1/2 cup gorgonzola sauce.

Roll the remaining pasta dough and use it as a lid for the lasagna. Pour 1/4 cup gorgonzola sauce on top and use a brush to spread it onto the entire lasagna lid. Cover with tim foil and bake at 400F for 45 minutes. Remove the tin foil after 30 minutes and sprinkle the shredded cheddar on top for the remaining baking time.

Let the lasagna rest for 20-30 minutes before serving. Decorate with teaspoons of the remaining of the warm gorgonzola sauce and basil leaves and serve with a good strong red wine 🙂

Bon Appétit!

 

Ingredients (8-10 servings)

Pasta dough

300 g pasta flour (tipo 00)

3 large egg

2 tbsp. olive oil

 

Meatballs

750 g pork chops

750 steak

2 large onions

4-5 garlic cloves

2 chilies (choose your favorite)

5 cm ginger (peeled)

1 lemon, zest

5 dl croutons, preferably home made

2.5 dl parmesan cheese, grated

3 eggs

1.25 dl cilantro, chopped

Salt & pepper

2 tbsp. olive oil

 

Filling

18 oz. mushrooms, fried

 

Tomato Sauce

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 shallots, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

2.5 white wine

4 dl canned tomatoes

3 tbsp. tomato paste

1 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried basil

Salt & pepper

 

Gorgonzola sauce

1 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. flour

7.5 dl whole milk

1 tsp. fresh thyme leaves

1.25 dl aged cheddar cheese, shredded

3-4 tbsp. gorgonzola cheese (choose your favorite)

2 tsp. redcurrant jelly

Salt & pepper

 

Garnish

1.25 dl cup aged cheddar, shredded

Basil