I tried to keep the flavor profile similar to an Italian beef or veal ragu by using a base soffritto of celery, onion, and carrot plus a grating of nutmeg and some bay leaves for that all-is-well-with-the-world homely lasagne taste. The other crucial ingredient was some hidden blitzed mushrooms, a vegetable Leo generally hates but that add meatiness here without actually tasting mushroomy. There is sweetness from Marsala (or use the dregs of a bottle of port or dessert wine if that’s what you have), and I decided to use red lentils instead of Le Puy or green because they cook down quicker and have a mushy nursery-food charm.
