Lasagne
A friend and I made lasagne for the first dinner party that we hosted in college. We used her mom’s Oklahoma recipe and made three variations: one meat, one turkey, and one veggie. I don’t remember the recipe exactly, but I do remember that there were three key ingredients no matter the variation: cottage cheese, mozzarella and heaps of parmesan. Now, if I told my Italian friends that lasagne was a dish made up mainly of cheese— cottage cheese, at that— they would roll their eyes. Classic lasagne bolognese isn’t about cheese at all. The dish is a delicate dance between meaty tomato sauce, creamy béchamel, and eggy pasta sheets, using parmesan at the end only as a way to bubble and brown the top. It is a dish that is comforting and rustic, without oozing with too much cheese.
These days when I make lasagne I like to toss in as many veggies as possible while retaining classic feel. Usually this means less meat, more mushrooms and sometimes diced eggplant. It always means adding wilted greens in my sauce. Lasagne is a great midweek meal because generally you can make it using staples already in your kitchen, and you can always prepare it early before the evening madness. Plus, leftover lasagne is an excellent lunch! So, without further ado…
Ingredients:
Sauce:
1 Onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/4 cup pancetta, cubed (optional)
3/4 pound meat (I like using Italian sausage)
1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped
2 small cans chopped tomatoes (I like one chopped, one strained… to maintain a little tomato texture)
2 cups Kale, chopped
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Thyme
Bay Leaf
Directions:
Begin with a small glug of olive oil and the pancetta over medium heat. It isn’t necessary to have the pancetta, but I find that it adds nice flavor. As the meat starts to glisten toss in your garlic, onions and carrot. Stir over low heat for about 5 minutes and then add the mushrooms. Next add your ground meat. Cook the meat until browned and then season with a nice pinch of salt, a few cracks of pepper, a bunch of fresh thyme and a bay leaf. Add the tomato, lower the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes. You want to retain the tomato juices, so if it is getting dry add a little bit of water. Once you are getting to the end of your simmering toss in your kale and cover to let wilt.
Béchamel Sauce (basic):
Ingredients:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/4 cups milk
nutmeg
sat
pepper
Directions:
Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour. Pour in all the milk, whisking constantly until it starts to boil. Season with salt, lower the heat, cover and simmer gently, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. If the sauce is too thick add more milk, if too runny add more butter and more flour.
Lasagne Directions:
Now comes the fun bit. Use a little bit of olive oil on the bottom of your dish and place a layer of lasagne noodles. Next add a layer of the meat sauce, a layer of béchamel, and a layer of noodles. Repeat until you run out of sauce… I generally do three layers, ending with the meat sauce topped with parmesan. Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the cheese on top is slightly crisping. Enjoy!
