Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Lasagna and Home Made Ragu

I did a bunch of lasagna research and found that béchamel based lasagna is Northern Italian and Ricotta based is Southern Italian.  I found one Giada recipe on Food Network that had both which I didn’t find anywhere else.  One day I will try doing a béchamel lasagna, but so far I always punt on that cause I am tired of cooking by assembly time. Instead of making separate tomato sauce and then sprinkling on the meat, I make a ragu.  And instead of layering the ricotta and spinach separately, I mix them together first.  The quantities below make either two medium size lasagnas or one really big one and will feed 12 adults. 

Ragu sauce (make day ahead or some other day and freeze)
  • 1.3 lbs of mild Italian sausage
  • 1.3 lb of ground chuck
  • 2 cans 28 ounces diced tomatoes (good ones will make a taste difference)
  • 1 can 28 oz crushed tomatoes
  • Chicken broth
  • Garlic
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne
  • Red pepper flakes
  • 2 medium yellow onions chopped
  • 2 carrots finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks finely chopped
I used a big Le Creuset for all of this:

Cook and render the meat slowly, and then drain the meat. I recommend not browning, but keeping the meat soft.  Make sure to cook and drain thoroughly or you will end up with greasy lasagna. Remove to a paper towel lined bowl.  Saute the veggies in the same pot in some olive oil until soft (add chopped garlic at end).  Add the meat back and all the tomatoes, some black pepper (the sausage usually is salty enough) and a couple bay leaves and cayenne. Add broth if it seems too thick.  Cook covered in the oven at 275 for 3-4 hours.  When done, it will have a totally different consistency, everything blended together and actually not very saucy.  If you don’t cook it this long the flavors just don’t happen and it will taste like raw tomatoes with some meat and very bland.  This is great for just topping pasta BTW.

[2022/23 update:  This Ragu comes out really thick and not at all “saucy”, which is intentional.  What I have found however is that it is hard to “stretch” it enough for all the layers.  I have started using some puréed italian tomatoes with some light italian seasoning and salt and pepper and brushing that on the noodle layers before the Ragu]

I mixed two packs of chopped spinach (after thawing and squeezing all the water out) with two 16 oz containers of ricotta and 3 lightly beaten eggs. 

Olive oil sprayed the baking dish then layered:
  1. Thin layer of the ragu on the bottom of the pan [2022/23 update: use the sauce noted above instead for this base layer.]
  2. Single layer of noodles (regular or GF)
  3. 2022/23 update thin layer of the sauce brushed on
  4. Ricotta and spinach layer
  5. Shredded mozzarella cheese
  6. Ragu (with a very light sprinkle of red pepper flakes)
  7. Noodles
  8. 2022/23 update thin layer of the sauce brushed on
  9. Ricotta and spinach layer
  10. Ragu (with a very light sprinkle of red pepper flakes)
  11. Shredded mozzarella cheese
  12. ¼ cup of grated parmesan or Romano.
Cover loosely with foil (I kind of tented it so the moisture could escape) and bake at 375 for somewhere between 45 minutes and an hour + till all bubbly, then uncovered for about 15 minutes to brown.  I put a foil covered baking sheet under it, which protected the oven and made it easier to take out. Then let it rest for a full 30 minutes.  

A few tips:  if you spray the foil it isn’t supposed to stick to the cheese. The resting time is essential or you will end up with soupy lasagna.  Make the Ragu a day or more before, otherwise it will be really hot when assembling and your lasagna dinner it will take All. Day. Long. I haven’t got the thick chewy noodle layers I like in good lasagna yet - I suspect the oven ready no boil noodles. 

*** 2023 “Quick and Smaller Lasagna” 

I am trying to perfect a decent lasagna that you can get in the oven in 30 minutes total.  Below is first attempt with my notes for next time:

Smaller lasagna dish that perfectly fits 3 noodles un-trimmed in each layer.
32 oz jar of Rou’s sauce, preferably bolognese.  Don’t go cheap on the sauce, this is where the flavor comes from.
1lb of mild italian sausage
24oz of ricotta + 2 eggs
Frozen spinach
Shredded Moz
Grated parm

Cook the meat, drain it, and add the jarred sauce but reserve a little
Do layers like above, but use the jar sauce for the first thin sauce layer
Instead of thawing out the spinach and then draining it, sprinkle frozen bits on the ricotta layer
I would add some heat next time like cayenne pepper to the sauce.  Didn’t have enough punch.

I was able to assemble from a “clean counter” to putting it in the oven in 30 mins.  Not as good as using home made Ragu, but sometimes you just want Lasagna. 

Ragu and lasagna pictures at different stages: