OUR KITCHEN~Food & Recipe Discussion forum: “Lasagna made by an Anal Person”
Views: 18, Replies: 11 » Jump to the end |
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| Thanks Arlene and Dea - I have a ton more when I get a chance! Thanks for the nice site! Kat
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| Now what is that? Can you set a place for ME? |
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 Absolutely Arlene - You're welcome anytime!What I call that is “Lasagna made by an Anal Person” (me) and that’s a photo of it before it goes into the oven! I wish I had another photo of when it’s done, as it looks beautiful and is soooooooo good! Really, there’s nothing like a good slab of Lasagna and a nice green salad! It’s kind of like Natures Perfect Combo! I still can’t bring myself to using the dehydrated no-boil noodles and I insist on only whole-milk Mozzarella and homemade tomato sauce. I’ve even gotten into making my own Lasagna Noodles lately…but we won’t go there! I usually make a few pans when I make Lasagna as it’s so time consuming and messy and figure if I’m already doing it, I may as well just go to town! If you try this recipe - about an hour into it you’ll probably be cursing my name…but after it’s all said and done, it’s so worth it! This is a long one! Ingredients: Tomato Sauce (Below) Meatball Mixture (Below) 4 links of Hot Italian Sausage 16oz whole milk Ricotta Cheese 12 oz of whole milk fancy shredded Mozarella 1 cup of grated Parmesan (Reggiano is best) 1 egg ½ cup chopped Parsley 12 Lasagna Noodles Salt 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil (for browning Meatballs) For the Tomato Sauce: 2 28oz cans of Crushed tomatoes 1 14oz can of Tomato sauce 1 onion diced 2 cloves crushed garlic 2 ribs of celery diced 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 1 tablespoon salt 1tsp ground black pepper 1 Tablespoon white sugar 1/2 teaspoons dried basil leaves or 1 teaspoon fresh chopped 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 tablespoon Olive Oil In a large pot, heat the Olive oil. Add the Diced Onion and Celery and sauté until softened. Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with sugar, basil, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and the parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally. Meatball Mixture: ½ lb each of ground Beef/Pork/Veal ½ cup Italian Bread Crumbs 2 cloves minced Garlic ½ a medium onion chopped fine ½ teaspoon dried Oregano ½ teaspoon dried Rosemary a few sprigs of Parsley chopped fine ¼ cup Parmesan Cheese 1 egg Salt/Pepper to taste Mix everything together well and form into small ½” to ¾” balls as above (Yes this is a pain!) Lasagna: Make your Tomato Sauce. It’s best made in advance so you can cool it down. Make the Meatballs using the ingredients above –rolling the meatballs small – at the most ¾” in diameter. Heat your oil in a large frypan and brown the meatballs. Remove to a dish. Remove the casings from the Italian sausage. Crumble up the sausage and in the same fry pan, brown it and chop it as fine as you can (a couple of pulses a Food Processor doesn’t hurt). Remove. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in the boiling water for about 6 minutes. They’ll be a little al dente. Remove each one with tongs and lay on a pan or sheet and separate layers with paper towels or parchment paper. In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta cheese with the egg, parsley and 1/2 teaspoon salt. To assemble: Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange 4 noodles lengthwise over sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Evenly layer ½ of the meatballs and ½ of the sausage over the ricotta, add 1 cup of Tomato sauce over the meat. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese. and sprinkle with 1/3 of the Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layer. Finish it off with the remaining noodles and top with a cup of Tomato sauce the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil and try not to touch the cheese. Bake in preheated 350 degree oven for 50 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 20 minutes. Let it sit for about 15 minutes before serving. Mmmmmmmmmmmm! Enjoy Kat |
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| serious drooling going on here..... |
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| We could take up a collection and build a 2nd or 3rd floor onto Kat's house & . . . . Of course pants w/ elastic waist bands would be required. We would do the dishes . . . once in a while too. maybe a fire-pole from "our floor" to her kitchen? |
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| Not a problem...but do you think you could all handle getting back up the stairs? hehe By the time we finish and sit around, everything would have settled. Then it will be time for a midnight snack! Who wants some Cold Lasagna? 
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| Cold lasagne at midnight..I've done it way too often ! Has everyone seen Kat's Yorkie drinking from a glass? It's priceless - honest! |
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| Only the finest for my little lush! hahahaha!
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| Do I love this do or what? |
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| A suggested variation on lasagna, layers top to bottom: Fresh-made pasta, butter-basted so it caramelizes during cooking. Fresh buffalo mozzarella. Simple herb-loaded tomato sauce. Pasta. Fresh spinach. Sauteed ground veal suspended in Béchamel sauce. Pasta. Simple herb-loaded tomato sauce. Fresh chèvre, milk and an egg (so it sets up) beaten into a batter. Pasta. Fresh spinach. Sauteed ground veal suspended in Béchamel sauce. Pasta. Carefully build your lasagna as a sealed packet and cover tightly with foil. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes in an oven preheated for one hour. This sets up your Béchamel and chèvre layers. Reduce temp to 325F and remove foil. Leave oven door partially ajar for five mins to cool. Continue baking another 90 mins, basting top pasta layer from time to time when it appears to be drying out ~ about every 30 mins. Hints: When veal is cool, break into fine grains with your fingers, then add to Béchamel along with its cooking juices. Before beginning assembly, divide ingredients evenly in containers to portion layers. Boil the next pasta layer as you're assembling the previous ~ use the same water over and over. Cook your pasta until halfway done; baking will complete it, and infuse it with flavor. Once it's boiling, salt your pasta water heavily; it should taste like the ocean. Do not add oil to pasta water. MORE hints: My quantities are: 2 Qs tomato sauce (2 layers) 1.5 Qs Béchamel + veal total volume (2 layers) 8 ozs chèvre (weight) + 1 C milk + 1 egg (1 layer) This fills a 13.5X9.5X2 inch (internal dimensions) Le Creuset baking tray. A triumph of trade over tradition. |
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| This is on weekend to do list. I make our own pasta but have not done the lasagna with it. Why? No clue, but that is now over. |
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| I agree on not cooking pasta too far before adding it to the main dish; in my opinion, too many people ruin their dish by doing that. |
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