Oxtail Lasagna
Oxtail Lasagna
Oxtail ragu, a béchamel sauce, Pecorino Romano, and fresh pasta = the best lasagna you've ever had. And most importantly NO RICOTTA!
Ingredients
Oxtail Ragu
- 4 lb oxtail
- 200 g onion
- 200 g carrot
- 100 g celery
- 2, 28 oz cans Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes with Basil
- 4 g fresh bay leaves 4-5 leaves (substitute dry bay leaves)
- 6 g thyme, stems included
- 1 c dry white wine like Pinot Grigio (8 oz/ 236 mL)
- 3 c water (24 oz/ 709 mL)
- 1 Parmesan rind (optional during reduction)
- ½ tsp espelette pepper powder (optional) (substitute cayenne pepper)
- 1 tsp granulated sugar (5 g)
- 1 tsp pink Himalayan or sea salt finely ground, more to taste (6 g)
- Black pepper to taste
- 2-3 tbsp oil (to sauté mirepoix)
Béchamel sauce
- 3 cups whole milk (24 oz/ 709 mL)
- 5 tbsp unsalted butter (70 g)
- 4 tbsp all-purpose flour (~30 g)
- Salt to taste
- White pepper finely ground,to taste
- Nutmeg freshly grated, to taste
Lasagna sheets
- 500 g “00” flour, plus extra for dusting
- 5 large eggs
- ¼ c water, plus more as needed
Oxtail Lasagna
- Oxtail Ragu
- Béchamel sauce
- Fried garlic
- Pecorino Romano powder grated, sub Parmigiano Reggiano
- Black pepper to taste
- Olive oil (for top layer)
Instructions
Oxtail Ragu
- Preheat oven to 450°F. Season the oxtail to your liking. I used salt, black pepper, MSG, granulated garlic and granulated onion. Place the oxtail on a baking sheet preferably lined with a rack. Put the oxtail in the oven until golden brown and crispy, about 30-45 minutes.
- While the oxtail brown, blend the onion, carrot, celery in a food processor until very finely minced (this is a mirepoix). Into a preheated skillet pour 2-3 tbsp of oil. Let the oil come up to temperature. Next pour the mirepoix into the skillet and cook the moisture out of the mirepoix over medium high heat, about 5-7 minutes. The mirepoix should turn pale and have a drier texture when finished.
- Next pour the tomatoes into a blender and blend until smooth. If using an immersion blender, pour the tomatoes into a bowl or container then blend until smooth.
- After the oxtail finish browning, place them in the cooking vessel of your pressure cooker* with the wine, tomato purée, bay leaves, thyme, water and the mirepoix. Season with black pepper and MSG (optional but recommended) to taste. Do not season with salt. Gently mix everything in. Cook the oxtail for 2 hrs on high pressure. When finished allow the steam to naturally vent for 20 minutes then manually vent the rest. When the oxtail is finished use a spider to remove the oxtail, bay leaves and thyme from the ragu. Pick the meat off the bones of your oxtail and remove any large pieces of fat and bone pieces from the meat. Set the pulled oxtail meat to the side.
- The ragu’s fat should have settled to the top while you pulled the oxtail meat. Using a ladle, skim the vast majority of the fat off the top of the ragu. Preheat your 5 qt saucier or stock pot to medium high heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the ragu to the saucier. Add the oxtail meat to the ragu. Bring the ragu up to a vigorous boil and optionally add a Parmesan rind to the ragu to infuse the ragu as it reduces. If adding a Parmesan rind, let it infuse until the Parmesan rind begins to soften considerably, then remove it. Do not let the Parmesan rind get stuck to the bottom of the saucier.
- Reduce the ragu by ⅓. Reduction time will vary based on the temperature of your pan. Use higher heat if more experienced but be sure to stir frequently to prevent scorching. Once the reduction is complete season the ragu with salt, pepper and espelette powder. Add more of each spice and/or sugar according to your tastes. Stir to combine and remove from the heat. Cool the ragu completely, preferably overnight in fridge.
Béchamel sauce
- Warm the milk up in the microwave until it is scalding hot but not boiling (180-185°F). In a 2 quart saucier or sauce pot melt the butter and when it foams, whisk in the flour. Toast the raw flavor off the flour which will take 60-90 seconds over medium high heat. The flour should remain very light and sandy colored. Next stream in the hot milk while continuing to whisk. Cook for 3-4 minutes, whisking frequently, until its thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Turn off the heat and season with salt, white pepper and nutmeg. Cool the béchamel sauce completely.
Lasagna sheets
- Crack the eggs into a bowl. On a clean surface pour the flour out as a mound. Create a well in the center of the mound. Pour the eggs and water into the mound. Vigorously whisk the egg and water together and begin to incorporate the flour into the egg little by little. Once the egg mix becomes a paste, use a bench scraper to begin cutting the flour into the egg mix. Once the crumbs of flour get larger and can be pressed into a shaggy dough, knead the dough for 10 minutes or until it no longer tears and springs back when you press it with your finger. Let the dough rest wrapped in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes before making the lasagna sheets.
- Finally, use whatever method available to you to roll out sheets of lasagna thin enough that you can just barely see the surface of the table and/or your hand through them. Cut the pasta sheets into size most appropriate for the size of your baking dish. Bring a pot of salted water up to a boil. Place a Cambro container of ice water next to the boiling water. Place a clean tea towel close to the ice water. Rip two pieces of plastic wrap big enough to fully cover the cooked sheets and place near the towel. Par cook each pasta sheet for around 1 minute or longer depending on size of sheet. If the pasta starts floating you cooked it too long. Once done par cooking, immediately stop the cooking process by dunking the pasta in the ice water. Next dry the pasta off with the tea towel and wrap the cooled pasta in two sheets of plastic wrap to completely encase the pasta. Repeat until all sheets are finished and wrapped.
Oxtail Lasagna
- Use the size vessel you have on hand. I would opt for something deeper than a traditional 9×13 like a 7×11 deep baking dish but 9×13 is fine to use if its all you have. Layer in the following order until your baking dish is full: ragu, pasta, ragu, béchamel sauce, fried garlic, Pecorino Romano. Bake covered at 400°F until hot in the center and bubbly at the edges. When the edges bubble switch the oven to broil at 500°F and cook until the cheese is golden and crispy on top. Cook time will vary based on size and depth of your baking dish. The internal temp of the finished lasagna should be 155-165°F. After its finished cooking, allow it to cool for 20-30 minutes and enjoy.
Notes
*if you do not have a pressure cooker then cook the oxtail and other ingredients in a dutch oven over a low to moderate simmer until the oxtail falls off the bone easily. This should take around 4 hours, give or take.