la·sa·gnas | Plural |
Traditional, I Guess? This was the first time I have ever made Lasagna that I did not follow a recipe. And, it turned out OK, I guess. There are a couple of thing I would have done a little differently, but for the most part, I think, I sort of know what I am doing.
This is how it came about:
-~2Tbsp. Olive Oil in Large Pasta Pot.
-Browned (and then drained) ~2.25Lbs. Ground Beef, S&P.
-Added to Beef (1 processed sweet onion, 2 processed stalks celery, 2 processed med carrots, ~4 tsp. minced garlic), Let the veggies sweat a few minutes.
-Added to Beef and Veg mixture (1-28oz. can crushed tomato, 1-15o. can chopped tomato {not drained}, 1-15oz. can tomato sauce), also added (2tsp ea of dried basil, oregano, and marjoram)
-Lid was placed on sauce to let simmer while ricotta and béchamel were prepared.
-Béchamel was prepared with 4 Tbsp. Butter, ~1/4 c. Flour, 3 c. warmed Whole Milk. When béchamel was thickened 8oz. cream cheese was stirred in. Nutmeg, salt, and white pepper were added to the Béchamel to taste.
-24 oz. of Ricotta was mixed with 2 eggs; 1 Tbsp. dried Parsley, 2 tsp. salt, and 1tsp. black pepper.
-This Recipe makes ~2 pans (9″x13″) ea.
-I used no boil noodles (How wonderful are they?)
This is how the Lasagnas were stacked up:
~1-2 c. sauce
~6 noodles
~1c. Ricotta Mixture (spread over noodles)
~1c. Béchamel
~1 c. shredded mozzarella
– Repeat Layers One Time (use all ricotta and meat sauce)
-Next, one more layer of noodles topped with any remaining béchamel, and mozzarella.
-Bake at 375 covered for 50 min. Uncover and bake at 450 for 10 min more to brown cheese.
-Rest 20 min.
-Eat Up!
What to change, what to change? Ben said it was the worst Lasagna I have ever made. He said that it was not cheesy enough, the meat was bland, and come to think of it the whole thing was bland.
So I immediately retrieved the left over Lasagna from the refrigerator, cut myself a small piece, micro waved it, and then tasted it. And tasted it, and tasted it. He was absolutely correct! Flavor = Zero = My Lasagna. It was sort of pretty though, I mean, I think that it at least looked good enough good to eat.
Let’s see, Italian Sausage instead of Burger, add a pound of creamy fresh mozzarella, a little tomato paste, fresh herbs instead of dry, what else? What are the hallmarks of amazing lasagna? I guess I have some research to do.