My Lasagna
I am by no means a great cook. I have had my fair share of mishaps in the kitchen. I have over- seasoned, under-seasoned, burnt, dried, or completely trashed some meals ( ok, my husband would probably say more than some, but he is no one to talk, since he has had mishaps too). But once in a blue moon I do get it right and come out with something delicious. I decided to make lasagna the other night and really took my time to get it right and make it flavorful. No one likes bland lasagna. And my husband is pretty picky about his lasagna. So this is what I came up with:
(I forgot to put eggs and butter in the picture. I seem to be on a role of forgetting things lately. That’s what happens with 2 little ones running around the kitchen, while I am cooking. Oh well, as long as I don’t forget to put them in the recipe.)
My Lasagna
Ingredients
- 1 box (9oz) Barilla lasagne (no-boil kind)
- 1 lb ground beef
- 3 Italian sausages
- 2 eggs
- 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese
- 1 cup parmesan/romano grated cheese
- 1 1/2 cup sliced baby portabello mushrooms
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 1 tbsp butter
- 4 cups (16 oz) mozzarella cheese
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 jars marinara sauce
Cooking Directions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Take casings off the 3 sausages by cutting a slit at the top and squeezing out the insides into a pan. Crumble them up with the ground beef and cook until brown. Then drain and set aside.
- In another pan place 1/2 tbsp butter and the sliced mushrooms, cook on medium/high until soft and set aside.
- Use same pan add the other 1/2 tbsp butter and the diced onion. Cook on medium/high until soft and golden brown.
- In a medium bowl, beat the eggs, then stir in the ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, and the parmesan/romano cheese. Then add the onion, all the dried spices and the garlic powder. Mix until all is well blended.
- Then it’s time to start layering. First I lined my 13 x 9 pan with Reynolds’ Non-Stick Pan Lining Paper. Then spread 1 cup sauce on bottom.
- Layer 4 uncooked pasta sheets, 1/3 cup ricotta mixture, half browned meat, 1 cup mozzarella and 1 cup sauce.
- Layer 4 uncooked pasta sheets, 1/3 cup ricotta mixture, cooked mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups sauce.
- Layer 4 uncooked pasta sheets, the remaining ricotta mixture and browned meat, and 1 cup sauce.
- Layer 4 uncooked pasta sheets, the remaining sauce, and 1 cup mozzarella.
- Bake covered with foil until bubbly, about 50-60 minutes. Then uncover and continue cooking until cheese is melted, about 5 minutes. (I leave mine uncovered, I like the top crunchy)
- Let stand for about 15 minutes. Then cut and serve. Makes about 12 servings.
Carmelized onions add so much flavor to recipes. And they are so easy to cook.
I love mushrooms and so do my husband and daughter so we use them a lot in recipes.
I had a coupon for this pan liner and wanted to try it out. I hate scraping dried lasagna.
I don’t put a foil on top when I bake the lasagna, but if you like your cheese nice and soft go right ahead and foil it.
Otherwise it turns out like this, which is the way I like it. By the way, the liner worked great. Saved a lot of time in the clean up. Hubby really enjoyed this lasagna, so this recipe is a keeper.
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Pappardelle With Wild Mushrooms
With Thanksgiving over, I’ve switched to Winter Mode.
Winter Mode consists of uplifting meals whose main ingredients might include any or all of the following: pasta and/or noodles, cheese, butter, cream, and excessive liquid. Bacon makes a recurring appearance. As does chocolate. My preferred mode of cooking becomes baking. Or boiling. Boiling noodles, that is.
Of course, because our radiator goes on overdrive each and every night, we’re met with a rather bewildering dinnertime situation. To set the scene: we’re minimally dressed. No socks, no sweaters. We’re wearing t-shirts, shorts even. The window’s open—god, can we get some snow in here or something? (Just kidding, but I can’t wait!) While we eat, pools of sweat build up on our foreheads, right by our hairlines. (Why do I bother washing my hair?) My armpits start feeling damp, I’m blowing like crazy on each bite to cool it down.
It’s contradictory-feeling, the heat, and confuses my body greatly. I’m craving fats and proteins, but responding to the stuff adversely once I get it.
But it’s alright. There’s ice cream in the freezer, the perfect after-dinner aid. Armed with a heaping bowl each, we can dangle our feet on our fire escape and contemplate the following day.
To counter the richness, there are mushrooms.
In my estimation, mushrooms are the perfect stand-in for meat. They’re portly and satisfying, with their own irresistible flavors to boot. Plus, they’re not bad on the eyes. (Can tofu boast such a quality? I think not.)
I like shiitake mushrooms the best, but I like mixing them even more. This wild mushroom pasta serves them up simply, with a liberal sprinkling of parmesan cheese and parsley. I think the trick is to not overdo it on the pappardelle, which has the tendency to dry out the dish. While the original recipe called for an approximate one-to-one ratio of pasta and mushrooms, I would halve the heavy (albeit delicious) pappardelle and even increase the amount of mushrooms just a tad.
That way, you’ll really taste the garlicky mushrooms but get to savor the luscious pappardelle as well.
My body can cope with that.
PAPPARDELLE WITH WILD MUSHROOMS
Adapted from The Naked Chef by Jamie Oliver
Serves 2
Ingredients:
- 12 oz. mixed mushrooms
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- Dried red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- up to 8 oz. pappardelle
- 1/2 stick (2 ounces) unsalted butter
- a small handful of grated Parmesan cheese
- a handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Directions:
Brush off dirt from the mushrooms and slice thinly. In a very hot frying pan, add the olive oil, then the mushrooms. Let them fry fast, tossing once or twice, then add the garlic and red pepper flakes with a pinch of salt (season lightly, Jamie instructs, as a little really brings out the flavor). Continue to fry fast for 4 to 5 minutes, tossing regularly. Then turn the heat off and squeeze in the lemon juice. Toss and season to taste.
Meanwhile cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente. Add to the mushrooms, with the parmesan, parsley and butter. Toss gently, coating the pasta with the mushrooms and their flavor. Serve, scraping out all of the last bits of mushroom from the pan, and sprinkle with a little extra parsley and Parmesan.
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