You Cannot Beat a Great Lasagna

Lasagna, for all of my cooking skills, has been my Waterloo. For some inexplicable reason, it would come out too dry or too runny, lacking flavor or just ho-hum. We have eaten my attempts, but they were nothing to write about. The only ones that came out somewhat nicely (and which I did write about), were a Short Rib Lasagna and a Lamb and Mushroom Lasagna, but these are not your typical recipe. I have even had a Zucchini Lasagna come out well various times, where I used zucchini instead of lasagna noodles.

Lasagna with Homemade Pasta

A couple of weekends ago, we had our friends Heidi and Rich visiting, and Heidi makes lasagna that Rich approves of, and he is Italian. I know she made it for us once a few years ago, but I cannot recall precisely how that one was. I just do not recall. This time, I asked Heidi if she would make her lasagna, and I would watch to see what she did. How did she manage the mixture not being too wet? Or too dry? The one thing I stipulated, as my contribution, was that I would make the lasagna noodles in my pasta machine.

Heidi had never used fresh pasta before, and was very impressed with how easy they were to make (the machine does the work) and how easy to use (they don't need to be cooked beforehand). Aside from that, she said she just made the pasta and meat sauce with both hamburger and Italian sausage, and not too much liquid-y ingredients. 

It came out crazy delicious. However, my husband and I both tend to retain water when we eat something processed with too much salt. She had used three 8-ounce packages of mozzarella slices. She used the better part of a pint of cottage cheese. We added no salt to the sauce (or anything else), which used a 24 ounce sized jar of  Prego brand spaghetti sauce and some tomato sauce and tomato paste. The Prego is something I use often with no particular water retention problem, so I figured it wasn't that. But the cheese? Oh, yes.

Lasagna with Homemade Pasta just out of oven

So, her lasagna was fantastic in the sense that it cut well and held together, was neither too wet or too dry. I wanted to repeat the effort on my own. I went looking at the cheeses, comparing sodium levels. I wanted to use ricotta instead of cottage cheese. The ricotta had nearly half the sodium per same-size serving of cottage cheese. I used only two 8-ounce packages of mozzarella, but I used shredded mozzarella instead of the slices, which had much more sodium than the shredded kind. I chose to add spinach to my lasagna, just because I love how pretty it looks. I have nothing at all against spinach, but you truly do not taste it in lasagna, so it is more for esthetics, to me. 

Sadly, my husband and I both retained water after eating this lasagna, even with more careful eye on the sodium - though not quite as dramatically.

As for the pasta, again I made my own. I used half whole grain Kamut flour, freshly ground, and half semolina flour, with egg and water. I love the great al dente "tooth" of this pasta, which cooks just perfectly in the sauce once all assembled and baked. If making the pasta by hand, you can use all-purpose, 500 grams worth, by weight.

So without further ado, here is my recipe:

Lasagna with Homemade Pasta

Lasagna with Homemade Pasta

Makes one very full 9 x 13-inch casserole

MEAT SAUCE:
1 pound very lean hamburger meat
1 pound Italian sausage meat
1 - 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, minced
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, minced
1 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, minced
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 (24-ounce) jar Prego traditional spaghetti sauce
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
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LASAGNA PASTA:
280 grams Kamut Khorasan whole grain flour
220 grams semolina flour
2 large eggs + enough water to make 190 grams
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OTHER INGREDIENTS:
12 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
2 (8-ounce) packages shredded mozzarella
2 cups / 1 pint ricotta cheese
Parmesan, for sprinkling

MEAT SAUCE: Heat a large pot or Dutch oven and add in the olive oil. Add the hamburger and sausage meat and cook, breaking up into very small pieces, until no longer pink. Add in the onion, garlic, bell pepper & fresh herbs, stirring until vegetables are softened. Add and stir in the spaghetti sauce, tomato sauce and tomato paste and stir to combine. Bring to a simmer, cover and allow to cook gently for at least a half hour, more if there is time. Stir occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom of the pot.

PASTA: Mix the ingredients until they come together into a mass, turn out and knead for 5 to 7 minutes, then pass through a pasta roller to the thickness desired for the lasagna. Cut to the proper size needed and use just as they are.

ASSEMBLY: Have all the ingredients at hand, ready to use. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a large, full-sized 9 x 13-inch pan. Mine is a Wilton pan, with absolutely squared sides. If your pan is sloped, or smaller, all the ingredients will not fit. The picture at right shows the order of the layers as they go in the pan.

Spray the pan with non-stick spray. Place one ladle full of meat sauce into the pan (#1) and spread to somewhat cover the bottom. Layer on three lasagna noodles (#2). Cover the noodles with a layer of meat sauce and then half the spinach over top (#3). Dot on about ⅓ of the ricotta, in small dollops (#4). Sprinkle all over with ⅓ the total amount of mozzarella shreds, and top with another layer of lasagna noodles (#5). Cover this layer with meat sauce (#6), then the remaining spinach (#7). Top with the remaining third of ricotta, in small dollops, and part of the remaining mozzarella shreds. Reserve the rest of the mozzarella aside for the top, later. If there are any remaining noodles, place them on top and coat with a scant layer of meat sauce so the pasta on top will not dry out in the oven.

Sequence of assembly

Once that last bit of meat sauce is on, spritz a piece of foil or a silicone, oven-proof cover with a little non-stick spray and cover the lasagna. Bake it covered for about 40 minutes, until very bubbly. Remove the covering and sprinkle on the remaining mozzarella and a generous grating of Parmesan cheese. Bake for 15 minutes more. Remove and let set for about 15 minutes to firm up before slicing and serving.

My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.

Caponata to Pair with Chianti

The Winefest Renaissance this year, scheduled for April 9th, has me working on creating appetizer foods that will pair with and set to advantage both the wine and the food with which it will be served. Often, when tasting a wine, some will immediately reject it out of hand. This has actually happened to me, and I fancy myself better than that in general! When trying a particular wine and the flavors do not agree, it is worthwhile to find a food that is meant to pair with the wine and try again. Some wines are meant to serve with food, and while all wine goes well with food, some wines do just fine all on their own.

In my case, my snap judgment came when long ago I tasted a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio. I kept seeing ads about it, and hearing others say how they loved it, and yet, when I tasted it, it just struck me wrong. I did not try it later with food - it just tasted that bad, to me. I have had many most excellent Pinot Gris, which though the same grape, is made in other parts of the world.

I love Italian wines, and have had so many great ones, I just dismissed the Pinot Grigio as an aberration, and stayed away. That said, obviously that style of wine goes well for a great many people. So when this year's Winefest meeting came around, I ended up selecting four Italian wines. Pinot Grigio is among them. I decided enough prejudice! Time to try again. As I wrote a few days back, I did a test run of a Lemon Artichoke Pesto with Chicken to pair with a Pinto Grigio, and the pairing was perfect - and delicious.

Caponata with Italian Sausage atop Toasted Ciabatta

On this note, my whole purpose in pairing foods to a wine is specifically to set both the food and the wine in their very best light. Too often, though a wine may not be specifically to one's taste on its own, it will still taste great when paired with an appropriate food. So today I chose to test run a recipe to pair with a Chianti. The Chianti I will be pairing is Rocca delle Macie Chianti Classico. It is recommended that such foods as lasagna with meat, antipasti, or anything with a tomato sauce would pair excellently with this wine. To serve as an appetizer at the Winefest, I prefer to make them as easy to handle as possible, with a minimum of fuss. What first came to mind was Ratatouille, though that is a French version. I looked up "Italian Ratatouille" and came up with Caponata.

I chose to eliminate the zucchini, and add in some capers and green olives, as well as Italian sausage. I wanted this to be easy to pick up and eat, so I will serve a scoop of the Caponata atop a toasted slice of Ciabatta or Focaccia bread. I prefer to make my own breads, but today I just bought some thin, narrow Ciabatta breads and sliced them into approximately 3 x 3-inch squares. Brushed with garlic oil and broiled and they were ready. Next I set to making the Caponata. 

Cherry tomatoes to roast, eggplant browned, sausage cooked, basil chiffonade

I used cherry tomatoes for that component, as they are already small and less juicy. I cut the small tomatoes into quarters or halves, depending on size, set them onto a baking sheet, sprinkled with salt, pepper and olive oil and baked them. They came out just as I wanted - slightly dried and more concentrated in flavor. They went into a bowl. I sliced the eggplant about ¼-inch thick, sprinkled with salt and broiled until nicely browned and cooked through, then chopped to small bits and added them to the bowl. Blackened green and red bell peppers, peeled and chopped were added. I quartered an onion and set it to broil, tossing as the tips and edges began blackening. Once nicely charred and cooked, they were chopped and added to the other ingredients. I slightly blackened some garlic, then chopped it and soaked it in a little vinegar to avoid any strongly raw flavors. I used Italian sausage and removed the casings, frying it quickly to a nice brown, while breaking it up into small bits to add to the bowl. With some chopped parsley, oregano and basil, and some capers and olives it was all set. 

I couldn't wait to try this out!

Toasted Ciabatta breads and Caponata all ready

I set a scoop onto one of the toasted Ciabatta slices and opened a Chianti. Wow!!! This was a most perfect pairing! Here is what I did:

Caponata with Italian Sausage

Makes 40 to 45 appetizer sized scoops

4 narrow Ciabatta loaves, about 15-inches long, cut appropriately to size (or use focaccia breads)

1 eggplant, about ¾ pound, cut in thin rounds

Caponata with Sausage,
atop Toasted Ciabatta Bread

1¾ to 2 pounds cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 red bell pepper
1 green bell pepper
1 onion
2 - 4 cloves garlic
salt for sprinkling (about 1 1/2 teaspoons, divided
fresh cracked pepper for sprinkling
olive oil for sprinkling
2 teaspoons capers
6 to 8 green olives, chopped
1½ tablespoons finely chopped fresh oregano
½ cup finely chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley 
½ cup fresh basil leaves in fine chiffonade
8 ounces fresh Italian sausage, casings removed
1 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar

Set oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Set all the cherry tomatoes on tray, cut sides upwards. Sprinkle with some of the salt and pepper and sprinkle with olive oil. Bake them for 20 minutes, until nicely shriveled and beginning to brown. Remove to a bowl.

Change oven setting to broil, with a rack set in the 2nd position from the element. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set the bell peppers whole onto the sheet. Lay the eggplant slices onto the sheet and sprinkle with a little of the salt. Broil these vegetables, watching carefully. The peppers need to blacken all the way around, so turn them with tongs as needed. Once the eggplant slices are browned, turn them, sprinkling with a little more salt and brown the opposite sides, removing them to a cutting board as they are done. Chop the browned eggplant into small pieces, not more than ¼-inch in size.

Replace the eggplant slices with the onion: cut off stem and root ends and peel the outer dry layers. Cut the onion into quarters and break apart slightly. Set these on the vacated space on the baking sheet and toss with the tongs as they begin to blacken in spots. They should cook through while moving around on the sheet. When they are done to your liking, remove to the cutting board and chop into small pieces. Add to the bowl.

Set the garlic cloves, whole, onto the baking sheet and let them blacken slightly. Remove to cutting board and chop fine. Set them in a bowl with a little white vinegar to cut out the raw bite of garlic. After about 5 minutes, drain and add garlic to the bowl. Add also the capers, olives and the herbs.

Fry the sausage until well browned and broken up. Drain on paper toweling and then add to the bowl. Stir well, adding in the Balsamic vinegar and taste for seasoning. 

Brush olive oil onto the cut sides of the Ciabatta breads and set onto a baking sheet. Broil for 1 - 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Scoop the Caponata onto the toasted breads for serving as an appetizer. 


My passion is teaching people how to create a harmony of flavors with their cooking, and passing along my love and joy of food, both simple or exotic, plain or fancy. I continue my journey in ethnic and domestic cuisines, continuing my journey to explore diverse culinary experiences and hopefully to start you on a journey of your own. Join me also at A Harmony of Flavors on Facebook, and Pinterest.