Lasagna

foodking

Time to tweak an 8 year-old recipe that was wildly successful. Why? Because I’ve improved it, of course – that’s what I do…

Basically, it’s the same thing – just a little clarification AND one important change: drain the canned diced tomatoes. Yeah, I know – how could such a small difference warrant an entire recipe update? (checks cost to update recipes … $0) Mostly, I want to make sure my best foot is always put forward. Since my feet are equally perfect, it’s always the case.

lasagna_plate

Mmm, get some on your plate. TONIGHT!

Anyway, Lasagna
Serves an entire family

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 Tbs Olive Oil
  • 1 Medium Onion, diced
  • 8 oz Mushrooms, sliced
  • 1/2 lb Ground Beef
  • 1/2 lb Ground Italian Sausage, mild
  • 1 Cup Heavy (whipping) Cream
  • 1 28 oz Can Diced Tomatoes, drained
  • 1 28 oz Can Crushed Tomatoes
  • 1 32 oz Tub Ricotta Cheese
  • 1 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
  • 1 Egg
  • 1/2 Cup Fresh Basil, chopped
  • 1 lb Mozzarella cheese, grated
  • 12 no-boil Lasagna noodles
  • Salt & Pepper

SUMMARY

  1. Drain the diced tomatoes (position a strainer over the sink or a bowl, dump diced tomatoes in strainer, wait ~5 minutes, done)
  2. Cook the sauce (tomatoes and meats)
  3. Prepare the filling (cheese)
  4. Assemble
  5. Bake

INSTRUCTIONS

Sauce

  1. In a large Dutch oven, or saucier, heat olive oil until shimmering (1-2 mins). Add onions and mushrooms and ~1 tsp of salt, and cook on low-medium heat until softened – about 5-6 minutes. Cook on low temperature because you don’t want to brown the onions – only soften. Adding salt to the onions and mushrooms will encourage them to soften and make this step a little easier. #smartGuy
  2. Add garlic and cook until fragrant – about 30 seconds.
  3. Raise temperature to medium, add meats and cook until no pink remains (5 mins), BUT NO FURTHER! Reason: it’s a texture thing.
  4. Add 1/2 cup of cream and simmer for 5 minutes. We want the fat from the cream, but not the water – simmering will boil that down a bit.
  5. Add canned tomato products and ~1 tsp black pepper and simmer for 10 minutes. If you cook with the cover off, be sure to use a splatter guard to protect your stove – this will splatter all over the place. Or use a lid.
  6. Turn off the heat. You can use the sauce now, or safely store in the fridge for a few days to assemble later.

Filling (note: can be done concurrently)

  1. Mix about 2/3 of the Ricotta cheese, egg, 1 cup Parmesan, chopped basil, and remaining (1/2 cup) or heavy cream in a bowl.
  2. Add ~1 tsp black pepper and mix until homogeneous.

Assembly

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. Find a 9×13 baking dish (I like to use the disposable foil kind from Costco – you can throw it away when you’re done. Cleaning-up after lasagna is a shitty chore). Make sure it’s at least 2.5″ deep.
  3. On the bottom of the pan, add ~1/2 cup of sauce. Tilt the pan so the bottom is covered.
  4. Add three no-boil lasagna noodles to cover the bottom. Pro tip: for the left and right noodles, you might want to break-off the outside corners so the noodles conform to the shape of the pan.
  5. Top with 1/3 of the Ricotta filling – about 3 Tbs per noodle.
  6. Ladle-on 1 1/2 cups of the sauce – covering the Ricotta evenly.
  7. Sprinkle 1 cup of Mozzarella over the sauce.
  8. Repeat: noodles (no need to break corners this time), Ricotta, sauce, and Mozzarella.
  9. Repeat again.
  10. Final layer: three more noodles, the remaining sauce (should be about 2 cups remaining), the remaining Mozzarella. And add the remaining Parmesan cheese (should be 1/4 cup you didn’t use in the Ricotta filling).
  11. Cover with foil that has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (to prevent the cheese coming-up with the tin foil), and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for another 25 minutes, or until the cheese is slightly browned.
  12. Let rest 5-10 minutes, cut, serve, and eat.
lasagna_pan

Lasagna in a disposable pan – cheese slightly browned. Beautiful.

RECIPE NOTES

  • Beef AND Italian sausage? >> Yeah. Lots of Italian recipes call for “meatloaf mix” when they’re specifying ground meats. Meatloaf mix is 1/3 ground beef, 1/3 ground pork, and 1/3 ground veal. To me, that’s a major pain in the ass. You can sub-in the Italian sausage (ground pork) and get some extra flavors as well. Be sure to buy loose sausage from the butcher, or cut the sausage out of the link casings – don’t just throw-in some Italian sausage links and think it’s going to work.
  • What’s with the heavy cream? >> The classic Bolognese sauce uses milk/cream, and they really knew their business. It almost acts as a panade and keeps the meat moist and delicious. In the Ricotta cheese, the cream keeps things moving – otherwise the cheese tends to be a little sticky.
  • What’s with the no-boil noodles? That’s not how grandma makes it! >> There are two reasons: first, no-boil noodles are easier. Second, they are more consistent. If you’ve ever tried to make lasagna from regular noodles, you burn your hands on the hot pasta, rip a few, and then end-up with not enough to make a perfect dish. The no-boil work right every time. Do as I say.
  • There aren’t a lot of spices, is this right? >> That’s what I thought too, but it works. Turns-out you don’t need a lot of spices for this lasagna – it’s awesomely fantastic without them. Also, the Italian sausage adds the right amount of backbone so you don’t need extra.
  • Does draining the diced tomatoes really make a difference? >> Yes. I did that for the first time last night, and noticed the lasagna was tighter and tasted better. Previously, the lasagna would be a delicious disaster – cutting even slices was a fool’s errand. Now, it held-together better and the flavors were slightly intensified – in a good way. Note: I removed almost a cup of water from the 28 oz can of diced tomatoes – not insignificant.
  • What if I don’t like mushrooms? >> First, grow up. Second, you can leave them out – I guess. Maybe just make some Lucky Charms.