NSC Recipe Time: LASAGNA

[Mendoza]

I well fancy some lasagna for dinner, so who has a good recipe for making this delightful dish

I want a good one, not one of these stupid ones Max makes with Broccolli in it

 

[Titanic]

I prefer Lasagne myself... one is not enough!

 

[steward 433]

If yoyu can manage to Brett get a copy of Aldo Zillis recipe off his website

I made it once years ago and it was f***ing LUSH

 

[Kylies Stunt Arse]

I do the best lasagne, but my recipe is very much a secret...

 

[Buttinhams]

Vincigrassi-style lasagne

by Nigel Slater
from Taste of My Life

Serves 4



Preparation time less than 30 mins

Cooking time 10 to 30 mins







Ingredients
For the sauce
60ml/2fl oz olive oil
400g/14oz porcini mushrooms, sliced
200g/7oz prosciutto or Serrano ham, torn into strips
1.2 litres/2 pints double cream
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper
50g/2oz butter, plus extra for greasing
85g/3oz parmesan, finely grated
55g/2oz fontina cheese, crumbled
450g/1lb fresh lasagne sheets



Method
1. Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2. Heat a little of the olive oil in a frying pan, add the porcini and fry until golden-brown.
3. Place the prosciutto or Serrano ham, cream and parsley into a bowl. Season, to taste, with salt and freshly ground black pepper and stir in the cooked porcini.
4. Generously grease a gratin dish with butter. Cover the base of the gratin dish with a third of the porcini mixture, sprinkle over a third of the grated parmesan, a third of the fontina and a few knobs of butter. Cover with half of the lasagne sheets.
5. Repeat this process one more time and finish with a third layer of the porcini mixture, parmesan, fontina and butter.
6. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden-brown and bubbling on top. Serve.

 

[maffew]

lasagne is rubbish make a pie

 

[Superphil]

My personal "trick" if you like when making any of this type of food.

When you fry the onions to start with, put in a few chopped up slices or chunks of Chorizo, or an Italian equivalent. The paprika and other spices, together with the fat really imparts a lovely flavour into the onions and then when you toss in the mince you get a really rich taste. You can also use Italian Fennel Salami to get a similar effect but different taste (if you haven't tried fennel salami, you really must, mmm).

Either way, it really adds richness to the meat part of the dish. You can use this when making pasta sauces, risottos etc.

Hope that helps Brett.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Put some broccoli in it.




oh...

 

[Scotty Mac]

try and get hold of some baby meat

 

[Kylies Stunt Arse]

In addition to Phil's tip I would also stick a dash of Mushroom Ketchup into the meat as it really helps bring out the flavour.

 

[Superphil]

In addition to Phil's tip I would also stick a dash of Mushroom Ketchup into the meat as it really helps bring out the flavour.

Oh yes, nice touch, for me it is a toss up at the end between that and Worcestershire, depending on whether it needs salt or just some more flavour.

 

[Arthritic Toe]

Here is a tip which turns your average lasagne into a stunning, gourmet, Michelin starred, A1 lasagne. I will reveal it now, this one time only. You are very lucky - you will thank me forever.



Here is is...

Before putting anything else into your lasagne dish, line it with......









Marmalade.

 

[The Merry Prankster]

Use Marcella Hazan's (or Thingummy Day Lewises) recipe for the ragu. I don't have my cookbooks out here so you will have to find it yourself but it is a cut above.

Superphil's fennel salami tip is spot on. They sell it upstairs at the Real Eating Company by Palmeira Square.

 

[Monkster]

Add a bit of the oil from a jar of sundried tomato's when frying the mince

 

[house your seagull]

prick the film with a fork several times before putting in microwave.

 

[maffew]

I reckon if there was an NSC cook off SuperPhil would be the winner hes got loads of cool recipe magic, that sounds mint

 

[ih8palarse]

Sainsburys own is quite nice... just had one mmmmmmmmmm

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Apart from me, does anyone on NSC know how to make the pasta sheets? Or do you all buy them ready made?

Making home-made pasta is one of the wonders of cooking. The trick is to knead the pastry by hand "until it's done". The only way to describe when you've done it long enough (and it can take up to half an hour of kneading) is that it suddenly changes consistency and you just know you've got it right.

It's magic.


As for the sauce - ignore all recipes that try to persuade you that "creamy" is what you are looking for. It isn't. I use olive oil, onions, garlic, ground beef, LOADS of oregano, a little salt, lots of ground black pepper, MORE oregano, tomato paste and passata (or drained, canned tomatoes, if you must - but throw away ALL the liquid and crush them to a pulp before adding to the stew mix). Then simmer for twice as long as you think might be necessary (three times as long is even better). No carrots, no mushrooms, no greens, no peppers. And no bechamel sauce. Add lots of freshly grated parmesan - not just on top of the finished article, but in the layers as you build the thing up.

 

[Muhammad - I’m hard - Bruce Lee]

cor...i love lasagne i do

 

[Superphil]

Nice one LB, like the sound of the way the bits of flavours get concentrated there. I make a veggie pasta sauce by cooking down courgettes for at least half an hour, you MUST get all of the latent water out of them, in oil and garlic then adding cream, which works a treat, the flavour of the courgettes is excellent.

As for making my own pasta, I really find it very tedious so don't bother. Interestingly enough I watched a program some time ago where the chef, I think was Giorgio Locatelli was critical of the UKs obsession with fresh pasta. He claimed that the best pasta for lasagne, tortellini, penne etc, was dried pasta by a mile, and that fresh pasta really was not the way to go unless you needed it for ravioli etc.

For me cooking is a hobby, as is food, I really won't eat processed pre-packed food, battery meat etc (see I am not only obsessed with footie shirts). I especially love cooking curries and barbeque food, we have 3 different types of bbq and use them all year round, come rain or shine.