Homemade Italian Greek Lasagna
The lasagna is a combination of traditional Italian lasagna and Greek moussaka. Layered with fresh egg pasta, bolognese sauce, bechamel sauce, grilled eggplant and mozzarella cheese. It is a labor of love to make but very satisfying to eat. You will feel so accomplished and proud of yourself for making it.
Servings: 12 slices
Equipment
- 1 large skillet
- 1 Whisk
- 1 9x13 pan
Ingredients
Egg Pasta
- 2 ¼ cup semolina flour or organic kamut flour
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- 3 eggs room temperature
- 3 tablespoons filtered water
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Bolognese Sauce
- 1 24oz jar of raos marinara sauce
- 1 lb grass fed ground beef optional if you don't like meat
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- pinch red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Bechamel Sauce
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 6 tablespoons organic all purpose unbleached flour or organic kamut flour
- 3 cups milk
- ½ cup parmesan cheese
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon sea salt more if needed for taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
Roasted Egg Plant
- 2 eggplant washed and sliced
- extra virgin olive oil
- sea salt
- black pepper
Topping:
- 8 oz mozzarella cheese grated
Instructions
Roasted Eggplant
- Preheat the oven to 450 F
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lay out the sliced egg plant onto it.
- Drizzle the egg plant with olive oil, sea salt and pepper. Flip the egg plant and season the other side.
- Bake the eggplant for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned and softened.
- Remove the eggplant from the oven and turn the oven down to 375 F.
- Let the eggplant rest while making the pasta dough.
Egg Pasta
- Start by mixing the semolina flour and sea salt together. Dump the two onto a clean countertop and use a measuring cup to create a well.
- Crack the eggs into the hole of the flour. Add the water and olive oil too.
- With a pastry scraper mix the wet ingredients into the flour. Once the dough comes together start kneading the dough with your hands for about 10 minutes until smooth and stretchy.
- cover the dough in plastic wrap and let the pasta dough rest for at least 20 minutes.
Bolognese Sauce
- While the pasta dough is resting prep the bolognese sauce. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon olive oil. Let the oil heat up for a minute. Then add the ground beef, seasonings and sautee until cooked through.
- Add the Rao's marinara sauce to the meat along with the bay leaves. Turn the heat down to a simmer and cover the pan with a lid while preparing the bechamel sauce. Make sure to remove the bay leaves from the sauce before using it to layer the lasagna.
Bechamel Sauce
- Add a medium sized sauce pan to the stove over medium heat. Once warm add the butter. Once melted stir in the flour. It should be like a thick paste. Slowly pour in the milk while whisking to avoid clumps. Then bring the mixture to a boil and keep mixing until thick and saucy.
- Remove the sauce from the heat and mix in the sea salt, black pepper, nutmeg and garlic powder. Then stir in the parmesan cheese until it dissolves. Cover the sauce with a lid and set aside to roll out the pasta.
Shape the Pasta Dough
- Now that the pasta has rested, remove the plastic wrap and divide the dough into 3 equal portions. Take one of the portions and cover the rest of the dough so it doesn't dry out.
- Lightly flour a clean surface and roll the dough out into a large rectangle. Big enough to fit a 9x13 pan. Make sure the pasta dough is extra thin. Too thick and it will absorb all the sauce when baking and make the lasagna dry. Repeat this 2 more times until you have 3, 9x13 pasta sheets.
Assemble the lasagna
- The oven should be preheated to 375 F.
- To the bottom of a 9x13 glass pan add a thin layer of bolognese sauce.Then add one of the large sheets of pasta. Add 1/3 of the bolognese sauce onto the pasta sheet. A layer of roasted eggplant over the bolognese. And 1/3 bechamel sauce over the eggplant. Repeat this two more times. There should be three layers of lasagna sheets, bolognese, eggplant and bechamel.
- Now sprinkle 8 oz of grated mozzarella cheese over the third layer. It should be bechamel sauce. Grate a little more parmesan cheese too.
- Place the lasagna into the 375 F oven for 45 minutes. Then broil for 2 minutes to brown the top if you'd like.
- Remove the lasagna from the oven and allow it to cool for 20 minutes before serving. After 20 minutes slice and enjoy.
Notes
If you don't like meat feel free to leave out the beef of the bolognese sauce. If you are gluten intolerant leave out the pasta. It makes this dish more traditional Greek Moussaka that is still extra delicious!
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!