Chop the onion, carrot, and celery very fine. If it’s too big, it might not get soft enough in the sauce. I like to chop mine up in the food processor.

Sauté the chopped onion, carrot, and celery in butter and olive oil until it is soft and golden. Add the garlic and sauté another minute.

Add the ground beef and cook until brown, breaking it up into small pieces, and all of the liquid is absorbed.

Optional: stir in some chopped fresh basil when it’s done.

Melt butter in a skillet over medium-high heat.

Whisk in the flour until a smooth roux forms. Let cook about 30 seconds.

Whisk in hot milk, and stir until the sauce thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.

Take off the heat and whisk in parmesan until melted. Cover and set aside. If a skin forms on top, just stir it in before using, it will dissolve.

Soak the dried lasagna noodles

If you’re using dried lasagna noodles, thirty minutes before assembling the lasagna, soak the noodles in hot tap water. Don’t let them soak longer than 30 minutes or they will become too soft, then become mushy in the baked lasagna.

Spread ¼ of the ragù sauce, about 2 cups, onto the bottom of a 9 by 13 inch baking dish.

Top with a layer of lasagna noodles or fresh pasta sheets.

Spread on ¼ of the ragù sauce, about 2 cups

Spread on ⅓ of the béchamel sauce, about 1 ⅓ cups

Sprinkle with ⅓ of the mozzarella, about 1 ⅓ cups

Make 2 more layers:

noodles, ¼ ragù, ⅓ béchamel, ⅓ mozzarella

noodles, ¼ ragù, ⅓ béchamel, ⅓ mozzarella

Cover the Lasagna with foil that has been sprayed with nonstick baking spray.

If your Lasagna layers go up to the top of the pan, put in some sticks near the 4 corners of the dish. I use chopsticks that are broken in half. This will prevent the foil from touching the top layer of cheese.

You can turn on the broiler for the last minute or two to get the browning you desire. Keep a close eye on it though!