Lasagne (NOT Lasagna)

First of all, wow! This turned out to be one of my top three! It also turned out to be an insane amount of work. So, to save you work and wasted time, I'm going to start this recipe with

WHAT NOT TO DO: 

1) Don't start this recipe at 7:00 pm after a t-ball game. Just don't.  (Be completely aware that if you do start this at 7:00 pm after a t-ball game, you are not going to eat until 11:00 pm. You will be in the kitchen at 8:30 eating Cheetos from the bag and drinking beer while you put together a gourmet meal from scratch...and it WILL feel ironic.)

2) Don't stack the fresh noodles (which, incidentally took an hour of work to make) into a pile and wrap them in plastic wrap while you wait for the water to boil. They will become a stack-o-noodle (yes, that IS singular stack-o-noodle.) As it turns out, they stick....to each other.

3) Don't forget to add the egg to the fresh ricotta before layering the lasagne (we'll get to that later, yes I did make ricotta cheese and felt like a rock-star doing it- like a Martha Stewart in leather pants, Hall and Oates cover band kind of rock-star maybe, but dammit I made cheese!) because no matter how good it turns out, you will wonder how much better it would've been if you had just remembered the egg.

4) Finally, and as usual...don't forget to look thoroughly at your recipe first and decide what ingredients you need.  Prep them and have them ready to go.  The French call this mise en place.  I call it not making a hundred trips to the grocery store for one more onion.

THINGS TO DEFINITELY DO:

1) Do make your pasta from scratch.  It makes all the difference in the world.  And boil the pasta sheets before you use them (just drop them in boiling, well salted water for 1-2 minutes.) Don't worry if they are a little small or misshapen from the stack-o-noodle incident...everybody knows its not the size of the pasta that matters, it's how you use it (and these were used well...this recipe turned out incredibly.)

2) Do make your own ricotta cheese. It's super easy to make, and has a flavor much more wonderful and intense than what you will find at the store. It's even cheaper to make it at home!  I made a double batch, since it can be refrigerated up to 3 days. 

3) Do purchase a decent bottle of red wine to add dimension to the ragu.  I used a moderately priced Australian Cabernet, and it worked wonderfully.  Rule of thumb, if you wont drink it, don't put it in the food.  DO serve the rest of the bottle with the meal.

4) Do prepare your ingredients separately, over the period of a day or so.  Below is the process for making this in 3 hours, but it can be quite spread out.  Most of these components refrigerate well, especially the ragu, bechamel sauce, the meat mixture and the ricotta. 

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This recipe is my own creation, with the exceptions of the ricotta cheese recipe from Simply Recipes  and the pasta recipe from Food Network (also used in my mushroom ravioli recipe.) 

THE INGREDIENTS:

1 recipe lasagna noodles (click HERE for recipe)

1 recipe bechamel (click HERE for recipe)

1 recipe ragu (click HERE for recipe)

1 recipe ricotta cheese (click HERE for recipe)

2 eggs, beaten

16 oz fresh mozzarella cheese

16 oz. frozen, drained spinach

1 lb spicy Italian sausage, removed from the casings

1 lb ground beef

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano

Good Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

THE TIMING:  

1) T-3 hours.  Mix the pasta dough and let it sit at room temperature, wrapped in plastic wrap for at least an hour.

2) T-2 hours  Prepare the ragu. While it cooks...snarf some Cheetos and Blue Moon.

3) T-2 hours. Prepare the ricotta cheese. Use a bigger pot than you think you will need.

4) T-2 hours. Cook the meat mixture and set aside.

4) T-1 hour  Start boiling water for pasta.

6) T-1 hour Make the bechamel sauce.

7) T-1 hour Preheat oven to 350. MIX eggs and ricotta (I forgot this step.) Set aside.

8) T-1 hour Begin rolling your pasta sheets.

9) T-45 minutes Build your lasagna.

10) T-35 minutes Put lasagna in the oven.

THE PROCESS:

In the bottom of a 9*13 pan swirl about 2-3 Tbsp bechamel.  Top with 1/2 cup of ragu.  Layer fresh pasta one next to the other and top with more bechamel and ragu.  Then add all of the spinach and 1/2 of the ricotta egg mixture.  Add another layer of pasta.  Add more bechamel, then all of the meat mixture and the rest of the ricotta.  Top with ragu. Add another layer of pasta, top with the remaining bechamel and ragu. Add sliced fresh mozzarella and grated parmigiano reggiano to completely cover the top of the dish. Put the baking dish onto a sheet pan to prevent drips on the oven floor. Cover with foil and bake for 10 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for another 20-25 minutes until bubbly and brown and wonderful.  Enjoy!

THE RECIPES:

Pasta:

(from Food Network Magazine)

1 pound all-purpose flour (about 33/4 cups), plus more for dusting

5 large eggs

3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Semolina or polenta, for the baking sheet

Make the dough. Mound the flour on a large cutting board and make a wide well in the middle. Add the eggs and olive oil and season with salt. Beat the eggs with a fork, then use the fork to break the wall of the well and incorporate the flour into the eggs. Gather the dough into a ball; don't worry if there are lumps.

Knead the dough. Using the heels of your hands, push the dough away from you, then fold it back over itself and push again (put your whole body into it!). Continue kneading until the dough is smooth and supple, 10 to 15 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let rest at least 1 hour at room temperature.

Roll out the dough. Cut the dough into four pieces. Flatten one piece slightly, then run it through the widest setting on a pasta roller twice, dusting with flour in between if it feels sticky. Fold the length of dough into thirds and run it through the roller two to three more times. Continue running the dough through the roller, reducing the width setting between each run, until you reach the second-to-last setting and the dough is about 1/16 inch thick. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. With a fluted edge pastry cutter (or a pizza cutter will do) slice the dough into lasagna shaped noodles.  Lay SEPARATELY covered with a tea towel until ready to drop into a large pot of boiling, salted water for a minute or two. Rinse and drain on a bakers rack.

Ricotta: 

2 quarts whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream or half and half

2 cups whole milk yogurt

4 tsp white vinegar

pinch of salt

Bring all ingredients to a boil over med. high heat in a very large saucepan. It is not necessary to stir. GENTLY boil for 2-3 minutes until the milk curdles.  Line a colander with a tea towel and set over a large, deep bowl.  Pour the milk into the colander to drain the whey from the curds. Let drain another 15 minutes.  Set aside to use later.  Can be refrigerated, covered for up to 3 days.

Bechamel:

2 tbs butter

2 tbs flour

nutmeg

1 cup of whole milk
In a ceramic mug in the microwave, heat the milk until hot to the touch (about 1 1/2 minutes.) Set aside.  In another mug, heat the butter until melted.  Using a fork, whisk together the butter and the flour until smooth. Add milk slowly, whisking at the same time until smooth and thickened. Add a pinch of nutmeg.  Return the mixture to the microwave and cook ALMOST to boiling (just another minute) whisk again.  Set aside for use in the lasagna.

Ragu: 

1 carrot diced

1 stick of celery diced

1 onion diced

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped 

1 clove 

4 bay leaves

2 32 ounce cans of tomato

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/2 Tbsp dried oregeno

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

1 Tbsp butter.

Add olive oil to a large, deep, heavy bottomed sauce pan.  Heat almost until smoking.  Add onions and garlic, cover and cook until translucent 6 or so minutes.  Add celery and carrots cook another 10 minutes or until tender.  Season generously with salt and pepper.  De-glaze the pan with red wine.  Add tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano and clove.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about an hour.  Add 1 tbsp of butter to cut the acidity down. Set aside for use in the lasagna.

 

Shortcut Bruschetta

Alright.  It's probably on the Blogroll ten deadly sins to repeat a recipe, especially directly after itself; but I wanted to let you all in on the shortcut recipe for bruschetta I worked up tonight.  Hubby is working a 48 hour marathon shift, so it's just the kids and I, but I had a mean craving for bruschetta.  Usually (as noted in the previous post) bruschetta is a lot of work.  Chopping, mixing, blanching, seeding, mixing, chilling...more work than I'm going to do just for myself, and the kids certainly aren't going to touch this with a ten foot pole.  I checked out the canned versions at the grocery store but couldn't bring myself to do it. Sooo...here it is SHORTCUT BRUSCHETTA. 


PS.  It turned out pretty good.  The texture wasn't as great as the diced version, but the flavor was amazing.

1) Start with a fresh baguette.  Instead of slicing it on the diagonal at home, have the baker slice it into 3/8 inch slices for you (or whatever thickness you like, 3/8 works really well for me.)

2) Instead of blanching, seeding, and dicing fresh tomatoes, pick up GOOD canned tomatoes.  I use imported San Marzano tomatoes if I have to use canned.  THIS IS THE MAIN INGREDIENT in your dish so splurge a little.

3) Pick up basil, or pick some from the garden. I used 15-20 good sized leaves.

4) Throw it all in the food processor with some pre-minced garlic, sea salt and GOOD olive oil (again, it all comes down to good ingredients.  The better food you start with the better food you end with!)

5) Feed the kids Chinese take out. Open a bottle of white zinfendel grudgingly because you forgot it was Sunday and all the liquor stores close at 6, therefore having to raid the wine rack at home when you really wanted Pinot Noir.

6) While the kids are eating take out, heat the oven to 450.  Drizzle the sliced bread with olive oil, and bake for 10-12 minutes until they are golden brown and yummy looking.

7) PUT THE KIDS TO BED. 

8) Snarf it. Die over the fact that this is crazy good.  Pat yourself on the back and remind yourself that it is SOOO worth cooking for one sometimes, especially when its this easy.