Spinach Pasta Lasagna with Creamy Béchamel and Spicy Pork Ragu

Directions

• Gochujang Pork Ragu
• In a large bowl, stir together the baking soda and 1 tablespoon water. Add the ground pork, and using your hands mix together well, distributing the baking soda water thoroughly into the meat. Set aside for 15 minutes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large saucepan over medium high heat. Add the pork and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the meat into small pieces with a wooden spoon, as you stir. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pork to a bowl and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium in the pot, add 1 tablespoon olive oil, and stir in the tomato paste. Cook and stir almost constantly until the paste darkens, adjusting the heat as necessary to prevent it from burning. Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in the gochujang ,* and then add the white wine. Let it bubble and cook for about 3 minutes, while stirring. Add the canned tomatoes, dried oregano, reserved pork, a large pinch of kosher salt and black pepper. Slosh some water in the tomato can and add almost a full can of water to the pot. Let cook at a brisk simmer for about an hour and a half, until nicely thickened. Remove from the heat, taste for seasoning and reserve. This ragu can be made a day or 2 ahead of time and kept refrigerated. It’s not necessary to bring it to room temperature when putting together the lasagna. It’s fine to use it chilled.
• Béchamel
• In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat until frothy. Sprinkle in the flour, whisking constantly, for about 3 minutes, until it smells slightly toasted. Stream in the milk, in 3 increments, still whisking constantly, until fully smooth. Add the salt and nutmeg. Continue to whisk until the sauce has thickened and is bubbling. Cook for an additional 3 - 4 minutes, taste to make sure no raw flour taste can be discerned. If you detect any raw flour, continue to cook for another couple of minutes. Remove from the heat, cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a skin from forming and set aside. The béchamel can be made a day or 2 ahead of time and kept chilled in the fridge until you put together your lasagna. Just make sure you keep the surface fully covered with a piece of plastic wrap until you’re ready to use it.
• Spinach Lasagna Dough
• Using your hands, squeeze out as much liquid as possible from the thawed spinach, and add it to the bowl of a food processor. Add the eggs to the processor and pulse until fully combined and smooth. Add the flour and salt to the bowl of the processor and pulse until the dough forms a rough ball - about 30 seconds. Remove the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead it until it is fully smooth and compact. It will seem very tight, but will soften up as it rests. Shape it into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and let sit for 30 minutes. It can sit for as long as a couple of hours if you want to get your dough made earlier in the day.
• Cut the dough into 6 pieces, keeping the other pieces covered as you work with one piece at a time. Pat one piece of dough into a rough rectangle and run it through your pasta maker on the lowest setting. Fold the dough in thirds (like a letter) and run it through the lowest setting again, repeat one more time. Continue running the piece of dough through your machine, adjusting the setting to the next highest number, dusting the dough with a little flour if it should start sticking to the machine, and continue in this manner until you reach the next to the highest setting. Cut the dough into 13 inch lengths and place it on a lightly floured sheet pan. Continue with the rest of the dough, layering the cut dough between sheets of lightly floured parchment paper. You will end up with some odd sized pieces of pasta and that’s fine. You can use them to fill in any gaps you may have in the layers of your lasagna.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil, add 2 or 3 pieces of the pasta and let cook for 1 minute. Using a large slotted spoon or a spider, remove the pasta from the pot and place it on a sheet pan, letting it cool a couple of minutes and then laying it out flat. Continue with the rest of the pasta. The way I like to do it is to put together each layer of my lasagna as I cook my pasta. That way I don’t have to deal with stacking layers of cooked pasta.
• For the Assembled Lasagna
• Preheat oven to 375° with a rack in the center.
• Using 2 tablespoons of salted butter, thoroughly butter the inside of a lasagna pan (at least 13 x 9 inches). Spoon a little of the ragu over the bottom of the pan and add a few dollops of the béchamel. Place 2 sheets of pasta in the pan in a single layer (if needed you can use some of the smaller pieces of pasta to fill in any empty spots). Spoon on a little more ragu. You will only have a thin layer of ragu. Add dollops of the béchamel (approximately 2/3 cup per layer). Sprinkle on 1 cup of the grated parmesan, and repeat layering in this manner until you’ve used 5 layers of pasta, at which time you will have used all the ragu. The top of the lasagna does not have ragu on it. After placing the 6th layer of pasta on top, spread it with the remaining béchamel and sprinkle with the last of the parmesan. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking for approximately 20 - 30 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Remove from the oven and let cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy!