«ragù bianco» white lasagna with chicken

• *note : this recipe is for 8 servings of  420 grams each, baked in a metal baking dish that measures 32 cm x 22 cm x 6 cm high …

meat sauce :

• prepare the sauce as indicated in this recipe (preferably at least the day before) but only make or use half (1,25 kg) for this lasagna recipe (see recipe here) and set aside and refrigerate
• separate the sauce into 4 portions of 300 grams (1 ¹/₃ cups) each
• *note : if you’d like a meatier lasagna with thicker meat sauce layers (about 400 grams of sauce per layer, then you’ll need to use more sauce (1,6 kg) but you’ll require a higher baking dish …

béchamel sauce :

• melt the butter in a casserole until bubbling at high heat, then add the flour and whisk for 1 minute, add the room-temperature chicken stock and milk and whisk until combined, lower heat to medium high and whisk occasionally until it comes to a boil and whisk vigorously for another 5 minutes until it becomes thick, then set aside and wait for it to cool for 10 minutes, then add the grated cheeses and salt and black pepper and mix well and reserve, covered with plastic wrap

ricotta & egg mixture :

• whisk the ricotta until smoother and add the remaining ingredients (the grated cheeses, fresh chopped herbs, salt, pepper and beaten eggs) and whisk by hand until smoother, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate

pasta :

• boil 2 liters of water with 2 tbsp of coarse sea salt and drop in 3 lasagna sheets at a time (otherwise they will all stick together) and boil until partly cooked (4-5 minutes) and remove with a large spatula and set aside on a large dish towel, side by side and continue with the rest of the dry lasagna sheets until all are partly cooked and softened 
• *note : the pasta sheets should be at least ¾ cooked, according to the boiling instructions, and at least doubled in weight and much lighter in color, before assembling the lasagna …

assembly :

• brush the insides of your baking dish with 1 or 2 tbsp of olive oil, drizzle the bottom of the dish with ¼ cup of the béchamel sauce, then lay 3 sheets of lasagna on top, spread out 300 grams (or 1 ¹/₃ cups) of the white ragu sauce on top, then lay 3 more lasagna sheets on top and spread out another 300 grams of the white ragu sauce on top
• lay 3 more lasagna sheets on top of the 2^nd layer of white ragu sauce and spread out all of the 640 grams (2 ¾ cups) of the ricotta-egg mixture on top and smooth it out and lay 3 more lasagna sheets on top and spread out 300 grams of white ragu sauce on top, then cover with 3 more lasagna sheets and the final layer of 300 grams of white ragu sauce and cover with the last 3 sheets of lasagna and press down slightly
• pour and spread out the bechamel sauce on top and smooth out and sprinkle with the mixture of grated cheeses, chopped and crumbled crispy chicken skins and finally dip the fresh herbs in water or some olive oil (so that they don’t burn) and decoratively place the whole fresh parsley and sage leaves and rosemary needles on top
• *note : you can refrigerate the assembled lasagna to bake it several hours later but let it come to room temperature at least 30 minutes before baking or freeze it to be baked days or weeks later  (well sealed or wrapped) and defrost for 24 hours before baking …
• preheat the oven to 180°C for 15 minutes
• bake the assembled lasagna for 55-60 minutes until golden and bubbly on top, rotating it once after 25-30 minutes of baking and eventually covering the top loosely with baking paper if it gets too dark on top after 45-50 minutes of baking
• remove the baked lasagna from the oven and let it cool down for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving (or cover it with baking paper and then aluminum foil when baked and keep it warm in a turned-off oven for an hour or so.