Lasagna

lasagne

* The secret to a very tasty and delicious lasagna is in the meat sauce and cheeses you use. Ready made meat sauce is good but nothing beats your home cooked one.

Bolognese meat sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb. minced beef
1 lb. minced pork
2-1/2 lb. peeled ripe plum tomatoes boiled until tender deseeded and chopped coarsely
1 small carrot grated finely
1 celery stalk grated finely
1 large onion grated finely you can coarsely chop these 3 vegetables if you prefer a chunky sauce
3 cloves of garlic halved
2 fresh basil leaves or 1/2 tsp dried
1 bouillon cube beef flavor (beef stock)
a dash of ground pepper
salt to taste
3 tbsp cooking oil
2 tbsp tomato paste if you prefer a redder sauce ( I don't use it at all)
a pinch of sugar if the sauce is too sour for you
2 cups water

Procedure:

Brown garlic in oil. Remove from heat and let stand for a few minutes just until the cooking oil gets the aroma and flavor from the garlic. Discard garlic and proceed to browning the grated or chopped onion, carrot, celery and finally, basil leaves. Add minced meats. Stir constantly while browning as the minced meats tend to glue to each other and separate them as much as you can. When meats are golden brown, add pepper, bouillon cube and water for simmering. Simmer for half an hour over low heat, checking and adding more water when necessary from time to time. Add peeled chopped tomatoes and cook for an hour or more, again, over low heat. Use the tomato paste to add color if you prefer a redder sauce and add sugar if it's too sour. Remove from heat. Set aside half of the meat sauce for lasagna making and the other half for spaghetti topping. Should be stored in air tight bottle jars with rubber lids.

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Lasagne

Ingredients:

12-16 lasagne leaves boiled in salted water until "al dente"
Bechamel sauce (see recipe below)
meat sauce ( the quantity depends on you)
3 cups grated parmesan cheese ( I suggest you use the real Italian variety, this comes usually in pre-cut triangles and can be found in specialty stores)
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups grated velveeta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese

Procedure:

Spoon a little bit of Bechamel sauce in a 10x12x3 casserole dish before laying the first lasagna leaf to avoid sticking at the bottom of the dish while baking. Use this sauce moderately as it tends to turn your lasagne too heavy if you add too much. Lay the lasagne leaves until you get the whole dish covered. Spoon meat sauce over it, again, covering the whole area, followed by bechamel sauce and the cheeses parmesan, ricotta and velveeta. Repeat the procedure until you get your desired quantity usually 4 layers. Top with Bechamel sauce ( get the whole area covered), parmesan cheese and lastly, mozzarella cheese. Bake covered in a preheated oven at 300 degrees F for 45 minutes. Uncover and let cook further for about 10 minutes or until the top is slightly brown. Serve with a good bottle of Chianti. Buon Appetito!

*Using only Parmesan cheese makes the dish lighter and easier to digest.

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Bechamel Sauce

Ingredients:

2 tbsp all purpose flour
5 tbsp cooking oil
4 cups fresh milk
1 tsp salt

Procedure:

Place a medium sized sauce pan over medium heat. Heat oil and add flour. Stir briskly with a wooden spoon until flour is completely blended with oil. The flour should remain white so do not brown. Make sure there are no lumps before adding milk. Add milk all in one time, stirring constantly until mixture is smooth. Add salt and let simmer for 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Make the sauce just before making the lasagna as it hardens and almost too impossible to spread evenly if it's made beforehand.

Rachel Mendoza
Capayawan, Botolan, Zambales
ZambalesForum (ZF2) moderator

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