Read: I said good, not easy

Willing to make my own sauce(FIFY protected)

tia

http://nymag.com/restaurants/articles/recipes/lasagnabolognese.htm

YWIA. This will change your whole perspective on lasagna. You will never make that awful ricotta cheese ridden crap again.

Ricotta is awful.

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Ricotta is awful.

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Ricotta makes me want to stab a kitten in the face with a javelin.

That's what I normally use, and it is quite bland.

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That's what I normally use, and it is quite bland.

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Are you talking about the recipe I linked to?

No, I couldn't get that to open on the mobile device. I'll use the laptop later.

I make an amazing lasagna.

Just sayin'.

If it has ricotta, or god forbid cottage cheese, then you are wrong.

Mark me wrong...ricotta.

Ricotta cheese

VOMIT

I make a bechamel, sometimes. But I use a little bit of marscapone and fresh mozzarella on a more regular basis, since it's not as time consuming as making a bechamel.

Depends on if I have all day to make a lasagna, or just an evening.

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Ricotta cheese

VOMIT

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It is not real lasagna without Ricotta Cheese!

This thread makes me huuuuuuungry.

Apparently it should make you queasy if ricotta is involved.

If only we had a Food Board.

Lasagna with Red Pepper Tomato Sauce

This recipe is for an 8x8 baking pan.

For the pasta:
3 cups Italian 00 flour or unbleached all purpose flour
4 whole eggs
4 egg yolks

For the tomato sauce:
1/3 cup olive oil
2 large red bell peppers, seeded & coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves
1 large can Italian San Marzano tomatoes (or plum tomatoes, if you can't find San Marzano)
1/4 cup Italian parsley sprigs (leaves only)

For the bechamel sauce:
1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk

For the tomato sauce:
Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add peppers and whole garlic and cook 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and parsley. Cover and simmer 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Insert immersion blender and puree sauce. (Or pour sauce into blender or food processor, puree and pour back into pot. Then go out and buy an immersion blender.) Simmer sauce until sauce is thick, about 15 minutes more. Transfer sauce to bowl and let cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead and refrigerated.)

For the bechamel sauce:
Melt butter in heavy medium saucepan over low heat, add flour and whisk. Cook for 1 minute. Add milk, whisking constantly. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes, whisking constantly, until sauce has thickened up. Season with salt and pepper (I use a little white pepper). It is essential that the bechamel have some salt in order for the taste to be right. Pour into large Pyrex or a bowl and cool to room temperature, stirring every few minutes to prevent a skin from forming.

For the pasta:
Arrange flour in mound on work surface and make well in center. Break eggs in well. With fork, gently beat eggs and begin gradually drawing flour into the eggs. When enough flour has been incorporated to enable you to handle the dough, start kneading the dough. If it is too sticky, add a little more flour. (I make this in my KitchenAid mixer, with the dough hook.) Knead dough until smooth. If making it in mixer, when you take it out of the mixer, also knead briefly by hand. When you have a nice firm dough that's not too sticky, wrap it in a floured piece of plastic wrap and let it sit about 20 minutes to rest.

Cut a piece of the dough and flatten it (keep remainder covered). Turn pasta machine to widest setting (setting #1) and run dough through. Dust dough with flour if sticky and fold into thirds. Run through machine a few more times until smooth. Adjust machine to next narrower setting and run dough through, dusting lightly with flour if sticky. Keep doing this until you have run the dough through setting #5. Lay the noodles out on a floured surface and repeat with remaining dough. Cut pasta into 12" long strips. You should have 24 pasta strips when finished. (If you do not have 24 strips, don't worry - just don't make as many layers when you assemble the lasagna.)

Bring large amount of salted water to a boil. Fill a large bowl with ice and water for ice bath. Add 3 pasta strips and after water is boiling again, cook for about 10 seconds. Transfer pasta to ice bath to cool. Set on towels in single layer. You can stack towels/pasta on top of each other.

To assemble:

Butter an 8x8 baking dish. Arrange 2 strips one way, allowing edges to hang over. Spread 1/3 of the bechamel sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Cover with another layer of pasta, laying the strips the opposite way. Spoon on 1/3 cup tomato sauce. Repeat pasta and tomato sauce layers 3 more times. Add another layer of pasta, then another 1/3 of the bechamel and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Make 4 more layers each of pasta and tomato sauce.
Top with another layer of pasta. Cover with remaining bechamel and Parmesan. Cover with final layer of pasta. Fold edges in over top layer or trim off hanging edges if you want. It probably makes it a little easier to slice if you cut off the edges. Top with mozzarella cheese. Preheat over to 375. Bake lasagna uncovered until top is light golden brown, about 30 minutes.

Humm, easy to separate the Italians on this thread!

Ricotta & Mascarpone = yummy

mix is a bit of cinnamon, some pistachos, and glace fruit and woo hoo!

You call that work Burnet?

From a previous thread

The cheese thread last week inspired me to make some fresh ricotta for a lasagna tonight





Homemade sauce goes without saying so then I decided I needed homemade pasta as well





Then I decided it needed homemade Italian Sausage for my sausage, veal, and pancetta layer

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Humm, easy to separate the Italians on this thread!

Ricotta & Mascarpone = yummy

mix is a bit of cinnamon, some pistachos, and glace fruit and woo hoo!

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I hate to break it to you, but if you were to serve what passes as lasagna in this country to some Italians they would laugh and ask you, "WTF is this crap?"

Hey are you Italian, Marine boy?!



(Okay if you are I'm sorry, forget this drunk post)

Marine, you said you did not like ricotta. When I was a wee lad, my granny made all kinds of Italian desserts with ricotta. I got addicted to the stuff.

As for most american food that has its roots in Italian food I tend to agree with you. When I was a kid the "spagets" at a place like Howard Johnsons was nothing like what we had at home.

Ricotta cheese.

Best lasagna I ever made was Guy Fieri's (sp?) fried pepperoni lasagna! It was awesome. Google search it.

YWIA