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Jun 14, 2009 - 11:57 PM |
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Lasagnaforce: Interactive Delicious |
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Because this was the most memorable thing about me at the meet, here is the recipe for the lasagna I made. Minor adjustments will be made to make up for what I forgot to purchase when I made it.
What you'll need:
Lasagna noodles
Ricotta
Parmesan
Mozzarella
Romano
Heavy cream
Butter
Ground beef (honestly, I'd rather use a mixture of ground pork and veal)
Carrots
Onions
Celery
Spinach
Basil
Thyme
Bay leaves
Garlic
Tomato paste
Stewed tomatoes
Kosher salt
Black pepper, black peppercorns
Cloves
Crushed red pepper
Red wine (I used merlot, but as long as it's dry it doesn't make much of a difference)
Eggs
Olive oil
Preparing the sauces I: Red
Begin by dicing carrots, onions, and celery in to 1/8" inch pieces. Add whole, peeled cloves of garlic. Place the mixture in a large pot with just enough oil to coat the bottom of it. Add a pinch of salt, pepper, a bay leave, and thyme. I recommend adding the thyme as a single bunch and removing it later rather than trying to pull the leaves off the stems. Over medium-low heat, allow the vegetables to simmer for about twenty minutes, or until just barely fork tender (for the carrots). Now add the ground beef (or pork/veal/whatever) and stir it in to the vegetables. Please note your vegetables should not be browned, nor should the meat. If they turn brown, lower the heat. When the meat and vegetables are mixed, add the red wine, tomato paste, and stewed tomatoes. Cover and let it sit for at least six hours, but overnight would be best. Turn the heat to low. After time has passed, spoon out the grease from the top and begin seasoning to taste with salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper. Remove the thyme and bay leaf.
Preparing the sauces II: White
This is a very basic sauce, as it's just bechamel, one of the five mother sauces--meaning most other cream-based sauces are built from this one sauce. In a pot over medium-low, add a half pound of butter and half pound of flour (the ratio is 1:1 when making a roux so the quantity is easy to increase or decrease). As the butter melts, incorporate the flour with a whisk. It should begin to turn in to a thick paste. Allow this paste to cook until it is a deep gold or blonde color. Now add two pints of heavy cream (I suppose milk would work too, but come on, where's the flavor?), slowly pouring it in and incorporating the roux. At this point, turn the heat down just slightly to avoid scalding the cream. Add a few cloves (three or four), a handful of black peppercorns, salt, a bay leave, and thyme, and minced garlic. Uncovered, let this sit for at least half an hour to allow any starch to cook out. Stir occassionally. When finished, the sauce should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Test this by drawing a line through the sauce on the spoon with your finger. If the line holds, your sauce is done. If, after the thirty minutes, the sauce does not hold that line, add another small portion of roux (not the full half pound of each. Try a quarter of a pound this time). You will need to let the sauce sit for another half hour if more roux is needed. Be sure to remove the cloves, peppercorns, thyme, and bay leaf.
Preparing everything else
The noodles will need to be par-cooked. In a pot of boiling water, add a large quantity of salt. This is the only opportunity you will have to season your noodles. (Tee hee. Season your noodle.) Add the noodles to the pot one at a time, rotating each noodle clockwise to form a propellor shape. This prevents the noodles from sticking to one another. Allow the noodles to boil until soft enough to bend but still above al dente. They should have a small amount of stickiness to them. Remove the noodles from the water when they reach this point and dry them on a paper towel.
For the ricotta mixture, add three eggs to one pound of the cheese. Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, mix in finely-grated romano.
With the spinach, toss it in oil, salt, and minced garlic. Do not pre-wilt it or anything. Same goes for the basil.
Once all of the sauces have cooled, you may begin layering the lasagna. Spray your pan with pan spray first, then lay down a single layer of noodles. Top this with ricotta, basil, white sauce, mozzarella. Add another layer of noodles. On top of this put down the rest of the ricotta, the spinach, and some more mozzarella. Noodles again, then the meat sauce, one more layer of noodles, and finally the remainder of your mozzarella, parmesan, and romano.
An important note: You'll notice I don't really have amounts listed. Lasagna is such an easy thing to make too much of and very difficult to make too little of. A lot of people like their lasagnas a lot of different ways. I'd recommend making slightly more than you think you'll need of everything. For two people, a single pound of meat will suffice. For four, you'll need two pounds. The amount of vegetables you will need for two people in the red sauce is very small. A half cup each of celery and carrots, and a full cup of onions will do. You won't need a full pint of ricotta for two people, nor will you need enough bechamel to warrant a full pound of roux. The amount of white sauce and roux you will need to prepare is a difficult matter when working in smaller amounts, so I recommend preparing these things in larger batches and finding ways to incorporate them into other dishes. Bechamel is a fantastic starting point for a great many sauces, especially cheese sauce or alfredo (simply add parmesan, garlic, and white wine to create alfredo and any combination of grated cheeses for a mac and cheese sauce). The red sauce will serve as a great sauce for any pasta dish and can even be made to represent the protein for Mexican stews by the addition of chipotle peppers, cumin, or other Spanish spices. In addition to having too much of things, you will want to pay close attention to the amount of salt you add to the lasagna. When I say a pinch of salt, what I mean is the amount of salt you can fit between your thumb and index finger. It is very important to add salt during every step of the process to allow the individual flavors of each ingredient to be incorporated. Tasting your sauces in the beginning will give you a general idea of how much salt you have and how much more you'll need, but you should avoid adding more until you're ready to use the sauce in its final form as cooking will concentrate flavors and sometimes bring out or reduce the salt content in a dish. You must note, however, the water for your pasta should contain almost enough salt to make it salt water. It is possible to have too much salt for pasta water, but most of you probably won't reach that point for fear of having too much anyway.
To bake the lasagna, cover with foil tightly but do not allow the foil to touch the cheese on top. Bake for an hour or until hot in the center. Remove the foil and bake for another ten minutes or until the cheese on top is completely melted and golden brown. Before serving, allow the lasagna to rest for five to ten minutes. It will remain more stable and be easier to serve if you do.
For vegetarians, the same sauce can be made by increasing the amount of tomatoes (I would add a tablespoon or two of white sugar to cut the acidity and add a dash of red wine vinegar). I'm sorry you didn't get any, Thud. I really would've made you your own!
The lasagna will keep for three days (if cooled completely before covering) in the fridge and up to a month in the freezer. To re-heat, pre-heat the oven to 350 and bake for twenty minutes, or microwave the shit out of it until you think it's done. Both sauces can be kept seperately and prepared up to three days in advance. Bechamel will not freeze. The red sauce will freeze and keep for up to a month. Do not prepare your spinach, basil, or ricotta until the day you need them as the salt will destroy the ingredients. The ricotta will not keep for more than a day due to the eggs.
It's a complicated dish because of how much work goes in to it, but I'm sure you all can tell the work is worth it. Except you, Thud, because you're a terrible person and hate good things in life.
Kidding, of course. I love the shit out of you.
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