I'm so sorry that I've been absent for so long. Between the Winter Mayhem and starting anew in a new college (yes, I'm back in school after graduating from other college)... I just wanted to vegetate away from things. I do promise that I have a few recipes to post, but for now I post this: LASAGNA!!!!
I love lasagna. One of my childhood favorite, and yes, I was influenced by Garfield to try and like lasagna. Besides, the tomatoey sauce. Bits of meat. The gooey cheese. Best of all, the chewiness of the layers of pasta. Oh man. Heaven.
This one, I tried from Bon Appetite: Smoked Cheese and Sausage Lasagna. I modified it a little due to well... "fat control". Let's face it, a new year means new years resolution, which also means the word "diet" comes to mind. And lasagna is no diet food right? But we all want that last great dish before we put ourselves into another year of "dieting".
The original recipe calls for whole-milk ricotta, and prosciutto... and Italian pork sausages. Sweet or hot Italian sausages is up to you, but I opted out of the pork and used chicken. Sweet Italian chicken sausage. I completely opted out of the prosciutto. I used reduced fat or skim milk ricotta. Also instead of gourmet smoked mozzarella, I just buy good ol' pre-packaged shredded mozzarella or the shredded Italian blend.
Also, I ventured into trying the no-boil lasagna... its not bad. Its thin, so I didn't get the chewy bite of the pasta. Also, gently soak the pasta sheets if you do want to try the no-boil.
I cannot stress the need to let your lasagna sit for at least 5 minutes. That 5 minutes means all the difference between a soggy lasagna and a structurally strong lasagna. So PLEASE let your lasagna sit for 5 minutes untouched!
I didn't let my lasagna sit... see the puddle? For shame~ (=A=)
Ingredients:
Oil
1 pound Italian Sausage (pork, turkey or chicken, sweet or hot, but casing removed)
1 medium onion, fine chopped
1 stalk of celery, fine chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp fresh basil, julienned
2 - 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh basil, julienned
2 - 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 - 2 cans (28oz) Italian style diced tomato (I say 2 cans for a more watery sauce, 1 if not so watery)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 box lasagna pasta sheet (about 12 sheets; I used the no-boil type, if you use the boil type, please follow box direction)
1 "can" (15 oz) ricotta cheese (reduced fat, skim, or whole milk)
1 egg
2 - 2½ cups mozzarella (grated best, but shredded is fine)
Salt and Pepper
How-To:
Sauce:
- In a big pan, heat some oil and brown sausage meat. (You can brown some bacon or prosciutto first before the sausage meat... I've tried using bacon bits for this dish before and it works too.) Once cooked, scoop into a bowl and set aside.
- Same pan, toss in onion, garlic, and celery. Sautee until onion is translucent.
- Add tomato paste and dried oregano. Stir.
- Add the whole can(s) of diced tomato with juice. Stir.
- Add cooked sausage with the juice. Stir.
- Add basil and some fresh cracked black pepper. Stir.
- Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 15 minutes... Just so the flavor merry together.
Cheese mix:
- In a big bowl, mix ricotta cheese with egg and 1 - 1½ cup of shredded (or grated) mozzarella. Stir to combine well.
Pasta:
- Follow directions for pasta on the box if you plan to use boil pasta.
- For no-boil, gently soak pasta sheets in warm water as you layer the dish. This provides extra moisture to the pasta as you bake, so you don't get a crunchy lasagna.
Assembly:
- In a casserole dish (~13x9x2 dish... or a nice deep medium dish), ladle about 1 cup of sauce into the dish.
- Layer about 3 sheets of pasta.
- Spread a nice layer of ricotta mixture.
- Top with more tomato sauce.
- Repeat pasta, cheese, and tomato sauce steps until all sauce and/or cheese is used up.
- Last layer is finished off with remaining tomato sauce, and top generously with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and bake for about 40 minutes. If you use no-boil pasta, test doneness by sticking a bamboo screwer all the way through the layers. If there is some light "snapping" as the skewer pokes through the layers, the pasta is not done.
- After baking, take out of oven and let lasagna stand for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes... TIME TO DIG IN!!!!
Lots of steps, but it is very filling. I hope to try a veggie lasagna one day... using tomato sauce instead of a cream sauce (I find recipes with cream instead of tomato). But for now, this is pretty darn good... I've already made this dish about 3 times. Good luck!
1 "can" (15 oz) ricotta cheese (reduced fat, skim, or whole milk)
1 egg
2 - 2½ cups mozzarella (grated best, but shredded is fine)
Salt and Pepper
How-To:
Sauce:
- In a big pan, heat some oil and brown sausage meat. (You can brown some bacon or prosciutto first before the sausage meat... I've tried using bacon bits for this dish before and it works too.) Once cooked, scoop into a bowl and set aside.
- Same pan, toss in onion, garlic, and celery. Sautee until onion is translucent.
- Add tomato paste and dried oregano. Stir.
- Add the whole can(s) of diced tomato with juice. Stir.
- Add cooked sausage with the juice. Stir.
- Add basil and some fresh cracked black pepper. Stir.
- Turn heat to medium-low and let simmer for about 15 minutes... Just so the flavor merry together.
Cheese mix:
- In a big bowl, mix ricotta cheese with egg and 1 - 1½ cup of shredded (or grated) mozzarella. Stir to combine well.
Pasta:
- Follow directions for pasta on the box if you plan to use boil pasta.
- For no-boil, gently soak pasta sheets in warm water as you layer the dish. This provides extra moisture to the pasta as you bake, so you don't get a crunchy lasagna.
Assembly:
- In a casserole dish (~13x9x2 dish... or a nice deep medium dish), ladle about 1 cup of sauce into the dish.
- Layer about 3 sheets of pasta.
- Spread a nice layer of ricotta mixture.
- Top with more tomato sauce.
- Repeat pasta, cheese, and tomato sauce steps until all sauce and/or cheese is used up.
- Last layer is finished off with remaining tomato sauce, and top generously with remaining shredded mozzarella cheese.
- Preheat oven to 350°F, and bake for about 40 minutes. If you use no-boil pasta, test doneness by sticking a bamboo screwer all the way through the layers. If there is some light "snapping" as the skewer pokes through the layers, the pasta is not done.
- After baking, take out of oven and let lasagna stand for 5 minutes.
- After 5 minutes... TIME TO DIG IN!!!!
Lots of steps, but it is very filling. I hope to try a veggie lasagna one day... using tomato sauce instead of a cream sauce (I find recipes with cream instead of tomato). But for now, this is pretty darn good... I've already made this dish about 3 times. Good luck!
