Look it...might as well share it with everyone ----------------------------------------------------------- Okay, I don't know how many people you're cooking for, and I'm just at the point where I eyeball it and season to taste, so I can't give accurate numbers like a cup of this and two tablespoons of that. But I can give you ingredients and steps. First, I brown equal parts ground beef and sweet Italian sausage. You could use anything really, ground veal, ground turkey, whatever. But I do beef and sausage. I'll brown that in a pan and season with chopped parsley, chopped basil, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. In a stock pot, add a chopped onion (or half, or two, again, depends on how much you want to make) with some garlic and olive oil and cook until the onion is translucent. This is the base of your sauce or gravy. You could add the raw meat to this, but I like to give it a little texture by browning the outside--which would probably burn the onion--so I keep them separate, but this is a matter of personal taste. If you're doing the meat separate this is when you'd combine the two ingredients. This includes the fat. A lot of people strain the fat from ground meats. You lose a lot of flavor here. I add it all together. So now, you should have some reduced onion combined with your choice of ground meats. I add a can of diced tomatoes here, but I like a chunky rustica sauce, so, again, this is about personal taste and isn't written in stone. Also optional, fire roasted red pepper. I usually chop up a jar of that and drop it in. To that, you want to add tomato puree. Canned San Marzano tomatoes are a must. I mean, if you can get them fresh, more power to you, but I've never found them. There are a few different brands out there, but make sure they are San Marzano tomatoes. I cannot stress this enough. Are Those Fancy San Marzano Tomatoes Really Worth It? Depending on how much you're making, a can or two should suffice. Just crush them in your hands and let the tomato run through your fingers and into your pot with the meat and onions. Sounds gross but that is the best way to make a tomato puree. Once that is done add some fresh basil leaves. Your meat sauce should have the constancy of sloppy joes. I always add one of those little cans of tomato sauce because you have to--and I mean, have to--add some tomato paste. Which brings us to the tomato paste and the never-ending quest to sweeten tomato-based sauces. Some people flat out pour sugar into theirs. Others get sneaky by using honey. These are shortcuts. This is the kind of sauce that should simmer all day--six, eight hours--so you shouldn't be taking shortcuts. Plus, as we both know, all that added sugar is unhealthy. So, while your sauce is simmering, take out a separate pan or skillet and--are you ready to have your mind blown?--dump in a can of tomato paste and caramelize the paste! Don't be afraid to burn it. Once it is sufficiently caramelized, stir it into your sauce. This will help sweeten it naturally. At this point you're going to want to turn your sauce way down to low, add a sprig of basil, two whole carrots, and one white onion chopped in half. As those things cook down, they will release their natural sugars into your sauce. Discard them before serving though. Let that all simmer and get happy together for hours Then, mix some garlic, ricotta cheese, shredded mozzarella, a bit of heavy cream, fresh basil leaves, parmesan, and a dash (a little goes a long way, a lot goes too far) of nutmeg. A lot of people like to go the florentine route and use spinach, but I find basil has better flavor. The nutmeg is also optional here, but it really gives your cheese mixture the taste of an Alfredo sauce. Boil your lasagna noodles in salty water. Take them out of the water early. If it says 8-10 minutes on the package, they're done after seven minutes. Remember, we're baking this. When your sauce is thick and pasty--and if the consistency isn't right, put the whole pot in the oven at like 400 degrees until it is (mind, blown, right?)--you are ready to assemble your lasagna. I don't know if there is a right or wrong way to do this, but all I do is divide alternating layers of meat sauce and ricotta cheese mix with lasagna noodles. All the way to the top of the baking dish. Then I add a layer of mozzarella to give it that gooey cheesey-ness, a layer of sliced tomatoes, and a layer of basil leaves. I like it to get a nice crust at the top, so I top it with a layer of cheeses that will burn like romano, pecorino and parmesan. Drizzle all of that with olive oil and into the oven at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. No foil. When it is all said and done, I like to plate it with a tomato wedge an basil leaf on the top, and garnish the entire plate with a sprinkle of parmesan and chopped parsley. Your guests will think you went to culinary school in Italy. Buon Appetito !
that's not even really true. i don't eat lasagna unless the old ladies at work bring some in for me. which i do encourage as often as possible.
My Mum always put celery in the mix with lasagne. Apparently it originated as a peasant dish using whatever ingredients they had to hand. I made her recipe myself but not for some time now. I like it cold too. Great packed lunch for work. I will certainly miss such meaty dishes now that I am vegan but it's a sacrifice for the greater good of my heart. I'm enjoying the vegan options though, and my stools are much more solid so I figure it's good for my colon too. A lot of people feel as if vegans are somehow attacking them and seem to feel threatened by it. I'm not trying to imply that. I'm not on a crusade to change people's eating habits or engender any guilt-trips. I just feel that my one single life isn't worth the price of the lives of countless animals. The world will always be a mix of carnivores, vegetarians and vegans.
i prefer the roman ricotta...has to be blue box though,,,they make another one that isnt blue and the lasagna is different maybe cheaper ingredients or something
