Cooking Instructions
1.
Add
Water (10 1/3 cups)
to the large pot and put it on the stove at medium heat to boil.
2.
Place the deep pan on the stove also at medium heat and add two teaspoons of
Extra-Virgin Olive Oil (as needed)
and
Onion (1/2)
.
3.
Once the onions are slightly brown, add the
Ground Beef (14 oz)
, spreading it out with a fork.
4.
Mix the beef and onions using a wooden spoon until the mince begins to brown. Don't overcook this because it will finish cooking once it is in the lasagna and in the oven. Turn the heat off and put the pan to the side.
5.
Add
Salt (2 pinches)
to the water once it boils. Then add the
Broccoli (1 head)
and
Zucchini (2)
. Leave the vegetables to cook for around 5-7 minutes (or until they are cooked and no longer hard).
6.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
7.
After the vegetables have been cooking for 7 minutes, strain them to get rid of all the water.
8.
Add the broccoli and zucchini to the pan and put it back on the stove again at a medium heat.
9.
Use a fork to squash the mixture so that the vegetables break down as much as possible. If you are left with some bigger pieces of broccoli that are hard to break, use a potato masher to squash them.
10.
Add
Dried Mixed Herbs (2 pinches)
,
Salt (1 pinch)
,
Fresh Parsley (1 handful)
,
Fresh Basil Leaves (1 handful)
, and stir the mixture well using a wooden spoon. Leave to simmer for a few minutes.
11.
Get the tray you are baking your lasagna in and line it with
Butter (2 oz)
. Make sure you get into the corners of the tray so that none of your lasagna sticks to the bottom or the sides.
12.
Place a single layer of
Lasagna Sheets (1.1 lb)
at the bottom, breaking them carefully into smaller pieces if they don't fit perfectly -- just be careful not to crack them because then the lasagna will fall apart. The number of sheets you use depends on the size of your tray.
13.
Using a wooden spoon, scoop up some of the mixture and put it on top of the sheets. This is your first layer. Cover the whole thing but be careful not to put too little or too much!
14.
Add lots of
Provolone Cheese (1 1/3 cups)
to the top of the lasagna and grate a generous amount of
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)
to the top.
15.
Using a spoon, scoop up the
Bechamel Sauce (to taste)
and cover the whole layer. I think it's easier to spread it out using the bottom of the spoon. Remember that this will spread once it starts to cook so don't make it too thick.
16.
Create another layer on top starting with the lasagna sheets. Push down on them -- but not too hard! - to create some room for the rest of the ingredients.
17.
Add the beef with the broccoli and zucchini and repeat the process, adding provolone cheese, parmesan, bechamel sauce, and finally a layer of the pasta sheets.
18.
On top of this last layer, add just a small about of the mince and vegetables and spread them out. Add lots of provolone cheese so it melts on top of the lasagna and of course parmesan, which at this point, is not an ingredient, it is a MUST!
19.
Cover the tray using aluminum foil and put the creamy lasagna bianca into the oven! Bake for 20 minutes.
20.
After it has been in the oven for 20 minutes, remove the foil carefully and let it cook for another 10 minutes uncovered so it becomes yummy and crispy on top.
21.
Take out the lasagna and slice into squares.
