Topic: In need of Lasagne Experts

[976bar]

Hi Jerry,

That looks delicious. I've had that tomato sauce recipe kicking around for ages and had never tried it before, but looking at your pics, I'm gonna have to head for the Kitchen!!

[joshallen2k]

Jerry, looks great.

Do try the cheese mix (ricotta, provolone, mozzarella). Just mozzarella would be a little rich for me. The ricotta especially adds volume but is a light cheese.

-- Josh

[JerryM]

many thanks to both of u - i tell u a real winner this combination. even the smell in the kitchen this morning reminded me of "casa italia".

the tomato sauce recipe for me is the key ingredient. don't get it too thick though (must be runny) hence my next go will be with tinned toms. although i know what taste the fresh toms bring i'm no longer convinced they are necessary given the carrot and herbs.

i have used ricotta and mozzarella before (but the recipe was no good for the tom sauce that time and ruined the dish). i do intend being more adventurous next time to try the trio of cheese. the provolone i will need to look out for as it's not stocked in my local supermarket's.

the mixing of the mozzarella and the tom sauce during the cooking is where the magic lies in stopping the combined sauce becoming too rich.

best wishes

[JerryM]

976bar, Josh,

i made 976bar's recipe again last night following requests from kids. sorry stroganoff has been delayed.

the revisit confirmed it to be every bit as good as the 1st go - so no fluke.

i cooked at 200C (180 last time) and felt this better, reducing cooking time down 15-20 mins (from 35mins). for a restaurant appearance u might want to flash the dish under the grill before serving - i did not bother.

i used 2 large tins of toms instead of the fresh 800g of toms. u'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in the final dish so tins toms are in going fwd.

i kept the lid on the fresh tom sauce throughout cooking to get a runnier finished sauce. this worked well but i still had to add 1/2 pint of veg stock. gut feeling was that stock's not the right thing and perhaps i should of just added water. the sauce being spot on before going into the oven and just needing extra liquid to compensate for the evap during cooking. family thought it was spot on as it was - so must be very close to being right.

i may work on getting the sauce a bit more runnier. i'd also like to add in the extra cheeses at some point (mainly for interest). other than that i'm well chuffed - many thanks

[simonp4]

Hi guys!

I used to work in an italian restaurant and what we used to do was cook the lasagna first and let cool.

When we were preparing the dish like in your pictures with the sauce around the outside we would put the square cut piece of lasagna in the middle then pour a base of bolognese sauce around the lasagna, then put a layer of bechamel over this sauce then sprinkle over quite a lot of parmesan....then bang it in the oven/grill for 10min

Try this out!!

Also we never used tins of tomatos, just tomato puree....and we would always cook the meat and soffritto in a combination of half milk and half water for about 2-3 hours...adding the tomato puree at the end and cooking for a further hour.

Have a go!

Simon

[Secret Santa]

Also we never used tins of tomatos, just tomato puree

My god that's going to make the sauce rich! And probably all the nicer for it. Thanks for the tips.

[JerryM]

Simon,

appreciate your input. just need to make sure i'm understanding u so that i can give it a go.

when u say bolognese sauce do u mean "tomato" sauce ie not the rague for making the lasagna.

also when u say meat and soffritto (slow cooked onion - i think) do u mean the filling for making the lasagna.

if u have a recipe it would be much appreciated too.

jerry

[Domi]

I always use Prue Leith's lasagne verdi recipe...goes down a treat every time

Recipe taken from Prue Leith's cookery bible (every cook should have it!)

For the meat sauce:

1 tablespoon dripping or oil
340g/12 oz lean minced beef
1 onion, finely diced
1 stick celery, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
30g/1oz plain flour
290 ml/1/2 pint good brown stock
100ml/ 3 1/2 fl oz white wine (dry)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon freshly chopped parsley
1 teaspoon chopped fresh marjoram
a pinch of ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon tomato puree

For the cream sauce:
45g / 1 1/2 oz butter
1 bay leaf
45g/ 1 1/2 oz plain flour
570 ml/ 1 pint creamy milk
salt and freshly ground black pepper
freshly grated nutmeg

Method:
Heat thre drippoing or oil in a saucepan and brown the meat well. Add the vegetables and garlic and fry, stirring continuously for 2 minutes.
Stir in the flour. Cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the stock and wine and add the salt and pepper, parsley, marjoram, cinnamon and tomato puree. Bring to the boil, stirring. Simmer slowly for 45 minutes, then boil rapidly, stirring until the sauce has thickened and is syrupy.

Make the cream sauce: melt the butter in a saucepan, add the bayleaf and flour and cook, stirring for one minute. Remove from the heat.
Add the milk and return to the heat. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring continuously, until you have a thick, creamy sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper and remove the bayleaf.

Preheat the oven to gas mark 5.
Butter an ovenproof dish and cover the bottom with a layer of pasta, then spoon on a thin layer of meat sauce. Cover with a layer of cram sauce. Arrange a layer of pasta on top of this. Continue in this manner, finishing with a layer of cream sauce. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and just brown on top. (If using bought pasta, cook to the manufacturer's instructions.).

[Domi]

oh, I also add a crushed clove of garlic and about 1 1/2 - 2 tablespoons grated grana padano cheese to the white sauce, remembering to take out the garlic before using....DELISH!

[Panpot]

Been keeping my eye on this and waiting to hear how it turns out with the trio of cheeses Jerry not to mention the additional notes from Simon. Domi has just added another recipe too but will await your latest findings as you seemed so close to your local Casa. Nice tread guys. Bye the way how has UB got on with his Pizza Oven project?