Hello Ladies. Your always there to come to the resuce. Instead of looking up just a recipe of lasagna i wanted to just ask you moms who actualy have done it. as we all know, the real TIPS and suggestions only come from first hand experience. Its my boyfriends favorite food, and its his birthday this week, i want to ,make that for him. but dont want it to be a boring dinner. i want it to be AMAZING! with like a white sauce i can make also not just the ricotta cheese. thats boring and kinda with out flavor. & i would wanna avoid using it. rather that white sauce idea with the regular sprinkle white italian cheeses so it will be smooth and cheesy. not clummpy, what ever cheeses' you say are the best. and with ground meat also, your ideas here are welcome too, beef, chicken, lamb. i dont know. you tell me. i CAN by the way cook, so what ever your ideas are, i will be able to execute it. lol! this is just not a dinner i ever made. its not a dinner i have ever found myself to like. and im even italian. pitiful eh! this would be great to like it myself and add this to the semi regular dinner menu! so im excited as to what you all have to say! LOVE the full on directions that you have already sent me. THANK YOU!!
i will want to make it the day before and recook it that day of his birthday so its better. so if you have tips, or a great how to on Lasagna, i would apprecieate you sharing with me.
THANKS a ZIllion as always ladies!
Cook's Illustrated has a great recipe for Lasagna Bolognese, which uses the white (bechamel) sauce you mentioned. They have a free 14 day trial to their website (cooksillustrated.com) so you can sign up and get the recipe if you are interested.
I would highly suggest one of their recipes. They also have a veggie lasagna that is awesome. I have many of their cookbooks and haven't yet made something that wasn't great!
First you have to pick a protein or veg.
I mean think about traditional lasagna....everything goes together but the formula is always the same. So instead of a red sauce with beef or pork you are going to do white? Chicken maybe?
Do you want to leave Italy? I would think instead of oregano and parsley with the ricotta and parm keep the ricotta and go with diced jalapenos, cumin...play with it. Of course I would want to go red with that so a layer of salsa or better yet chicken mole.
There are millions of things you can do with lasagna, just keep the floor plan in mind. :)
I don't do a white sauce - we use marinara, and I don't care for ricotta cheese. If you like ricotta, though, you can substitute it for one of the mozzarella layers:
For the sauce:
saute garlic in olive oil (don't waste money on extra virgin if you are just using it for sauteing - it won't HURT to use EVOO, but if you saute with olive oil a lot, as we do, you might as well have a bottle of the cheap stuff); don't brown it, you just want it soft.
Add 1 12oz can of tomato paste and 1 16 oz can of tomato sauce, reduce heat to low.
Add, ALL AT ONCE (the tomato-based sauce will amplify the flavor of the last thing you add) oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, and mustard powder; and a little red pepper for kick, if you want. The amount is up to you, but generally, the proportion I use is two of each green, for every 1 of non-green. So, a half tsp each of oregano, basil, rosemary, and thyme and a quarter tsp each of mustard and red pepper. Or half/whole or whatever.
(If using the same recipe to pour over spaghetti, at this point add 1 cup of liquid - chicken broth and vegetable broth work equally well, or you can use water in a pinch. I don't do this for lasagna, though - makes the noodles soggy.)
Simmer the sauce on low heat for a few minutes - baking the lasagna will blend the flavors, so you really don't have to simmer it for longer. If you are adding water and doing it as a stand-alone sauce, though, simmer for about 25 minutes.
Mix into the sauce the already browned and drained ground meat of your choice. I prefer ground beef, but I have a friend who uses sausage. My mom has used turkey, and I've heard of using a lamb/beef mixture. Personal preference.
Assembly:
Boil the noodles as per package directions. I recommend adding a little oil to the water, just to make them easier to separate. How many noodles depends on how many layers, and the size of your pan.
You don't necessarily have to spray the pan - your bottom layer is noodles, and they won't stick. If you want to spray the sides, though, I don't think it'll hurt anything.
We layer noodle/sauce meat mix/cheese, noodle/sauce meat mix/cheese
Typically, the cheese we use is a blend of mozzarella and a hard cheeses, but you can certainly replace one (or all, I suppose) of the cheese layers with ricotta. I personally don't care for the texture, myself. (I have heard you can use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, but I've never tried it.)
Assemble, and stick in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. You really only have to bake it long enough for the cheese to melt, and the insides to get warm. I often make one in the morning, and pop it in the oven when DH calls to say he's on the way home in the evening.
I hope I've at least given you some good ideas.
Enjoy, and a happy birthday for your boyfriend!
My all time favorite lasagna recipe. It's a spinach lasagna so be warned.....lol.
Buy 2 boxes of frozen chopped spinach. Cook it according to the box directions. Drain it, squeeze it out between 2 towels, smash it in a colander, drain it some more, squeeze it out again. Get as much of the water out as possible.
Take a box of lasagna noodles, cook them according to the box directions. Take them out of the boiling water and place them on greased tin foil. That way they don't stick when you go to arrange the lasagna.
But 1 or 2 cans of your favorite chunky spaghetti sauce. I use a holey spoon to scoop out more chunky spoonfuls, not drained entirely just more chunky that saucy...
Mozzarella cheese, slices or shredded makes no difference.
Ricotta, if you like a lot buy the big tub if you just like it a little buy the smaller tub.
Other than that you need an egg slightly stirred up and and a bit of dried parsley if you like that spice/herb. Some spray oil or veggie oil for the tin foil.
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To make the spinach mix:
Take the drained spinach and add the ricotta cheese, the egg, and 1 tsp - 1 Tbsp of dried Parsley. I don't like it much so I don't add it.
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To arrange the lasagna.
Starting at the bottom......
I grease the 13X9 pan with olive oil.
I like lots of pasta so I put 3 noodles in the bottom side by side.
Then I put 1/2 of the spinach mix on these noodles and smash it out pretty evenly. Scoop some chunky spaghetti sauce on it. Enough to cover the spinach but not very deep. You don't want to cut the lasagna open and it squish out.
Then put some mozzarella cheese on this. I like to use the sliced because it is more uniform. If using shredded just make a nice layer.
Then add more noodles and repeat the same layer.
When getting to the top of the pan leave a little room but not a lot. I always get 2 layers in my 13X9 pan.
Top with the last of the cheese then take the greased tin foil and put the greased side down on top of the lasagna. This should be pretty greasy. You don't want the cheese to stick to the foil.
Heat it thoroughly to cook the egg. It might take about 30 minutes on 350 degrees.
Take the foil off and brown it slightly if you want to. I don't like browned cheese so I do not brown it but maybe 5 minutes.
Take it out of the over and let it set up for about 5-10 minutes. Then serve with a fresh salad with a good salad dressing that won't clash with the ricotta cheese and the other flavors in the food.
Mozzarella cheese is what always use in lasagna.
My husband makes a great hearty and filling lasagna. Since it's your bf's fav food, does he have a specific restaurant that makes it his favorite way? I'd try to copy that. We always uses 1/2 italian sausage and 1/2 ground hamburger. For the white cheese layer, my hubby uses a full container of cottage cheese, egg and lots of italian seasonings so it's nice and flavored. He doesn't cook the noodles either. If you have enough moisture in the other layers, the noodles cook in that and you avoid a mushy lasagna. We tried freezing it once too and it set up even better than fresh stuff. Definitely get fresh mozzarella balls vs block/shredded stuff. Especially for the top! Plan on baking it for about an hour or more. Mmm, makes me want lasagna now :D
I use the Italian ground turkey by Jenny-O. Cook it and season it first (garlic, basil, etc.), and then mix with sauce. Cook it to together until they become one, not jus tmeat and sauce. Are you commiteed to a white sauce, or are you just trying to avoid boredom? I use the basil and tomato sauce by Classico.
Blend the spinach and ricotta cheese with a little more spinach than cheese. You can cook frozen chopped spinach in water, or you can buy fresh spinach and cook it down in a little olive oil. (Enough oil to cook, but not to saturate.)
Sprinkle cheese on top of EVERY meat/sauce layer--mozzarella, provolone, parmesan, and a bit fo cheddar (blended to taste). I use the cheese that's already grated, but not the dry parmesan.
On the very top--should be sauce with cheese on top--sprinkle parsley to make it pretty.
Unless it's important that you serve it fresh from the oven, refrigerate it overnight after cooking. (It'll probably taste better the next day, anyway.) While it's cold, cut it up. It's easier to cut cold. Then, warm up portions in the oven. (Just saw that you addressed that in your message.)
My trick to a great lasagna--and, yes, it is amazing--is to prepare each layer of ingredients as if it is its own dish to be eaten alone. Taste it and feel it as you go. The details matter to the big picture.
Good luck...and HAPPY BIRTHDAY to your guy!
