Lasagna is a favorite dish of many people and can be simple to make. Before starting out to make your lasagna, you must decide what kind of lasagna you would like to make. Is it Lasagna Bolognese (with meat sauce), vegetarian lasagna, mushroom lasagna or seafood lasagna? Once that decision is made the next step is to make a list of ingredients that you will need. Before heading out to the market, check your store of groceries at home. You will be surprised at what you may find.
Do you want to use dried pasta, fresh pasta, domestically made pasta or imported pasta? It is important to use a good quality so that the lasagna will not only taste good but will hold together after it is baked and when you serve it. Fresh pasta can be purchased at your local Italian deli. The advantage of purchasing fresh pasta is that you can buy it in large sheets, thereby making it easier to assemble your lasagna. If you purchase dried lasagna, be sure to follow the cooking directions on the package. If you purchase fresh lasagna it will only need to be cooked for 1-2 minutes or not at all if you use a liberal amount of sauce when assembling your lasagna.
Next, decide on the type of sauce you are going to use. You can use your favorite homemade pasta sauce or you can purchase ready-made sauce at the market or your local Italian deli. For a 9 x 12 pan of lasagna you will want to have at least a quart or more of sauce. My favorite is a mushroom sauce which has several varieties of mushrooms.
The other ingredients you are going to need is at least a pound of mozzarella cheese, a pound of ricotta cheese and some shredded Parmesan. To make it easy to shred the mozzarella, place it in the freezer for about half an hour before shredding it. To make the ricotta easy to spread on the pasta, first make a bechamel (medium cream sauce) and combine it with the ricotta. One cup of cream sauce made with 2 tablespoons of butter and flour and one cup of milk should be sufficient to combine with one pound of ricotta cheese. Season it to taste with salt and white pepper.
After you cook your pasta and drain it, lay it out on plastic wrap in a single layer so that the pieces do not stick together. Prepare your lasagna pan by lightly oiling with a small of amount of olive oil. Assemble all your ingredients so that they will be in easy reach of the pan and your assembly location. To make the lasagna be sure you have the following all prepared and laid out first:
Oiled lasagna pan or 9 x 12 baking dish
Cooked and separated lasagna noodles
One quart or more of your favorite Sauce
One pound or more of shredded mozzarella
Ricotta combined with a bechamel sauce
Parmesan Cheese
Assemble the lasagna in the following manner:
Place a layer of pasta lengthwise in the baking dish.
Spread a thin layer of the ricotta/béchamel mixture over the pasta.
Add a thin layer of sauce and some Parmesan over the sauce.
Add a layer of mozzarella over that.
Place a layer of pasta crosswise over the mozzarella layer. (This will make it easier to cut and serve the lasagna)
Repeat the layering process as you did with the first layer of pasta.
For the third layer, place the noodles lengthwise again. Mozzarella should be the last item on your lasagna.
If desired, you can put the sauce only on the first and third layers as well as the mozzarella. The second layer then would only be the pasta and the ricotta. Save any leftover sauce to serve on the side.
Once the lasagna is assembled it can be refrigerated or frozen until ready to use or it can be baked immediately. To bake the lasagna immediately, place it in the middle of a 350 degree oven and bake for approximately 45 minutes or until the dish is hot and the cheese on top is melted and bubbling and just beginning to show some color.
Frozen lasagna should be thawed before baking but if you plan to bake it from the frozen state do not put the last layer of mozzarella on the top. Instead, cover the dish with foil and place it on the middle shelf of a cold oven. Then turn the oven on to 350 degrees. If you are using a ceramic dish, placing it in a cold oven will avoid breakage. Placing a very cold dish in a hot oven will cause it to contract too quickly and break, thereby destroying all your work in making the lasagna and creating a large and potentially dangerous mess in the oven to clean up. Once the lasagna has thawed and is almost hot enough to serve, you can then add the top layer of mozzarella cheese.
Refrigerated lasagna should also be placed in a cold oven as with the frozen lasagna; the refrigerated lasagna will take longer than the just finished lasagna but not as long as the frozen lasagna. Just be sure your lasagna is hot and the cheese on top is melted and bubbling.
To serve, cut the lasagna into squares and remove with a lasagna spatula (short, squat spatula). Serve with extra sauce on the side and a fresh green salad with Italian Dressing and hot bread or garlic bread.
If you have a squash or other vegetables in your refrigerator, they can be sliced, sauteed in olive oil with a little fresh basil and garlic and added to your lasagna during the layering process. Lasagna can be simple to make and delicious to eat. Try your hand at it and then try your own variations. You will be surprised at what you may come up with! Enjoy!
See Also : Buy Best Price Buy Best Price Buy Best Price
ไม่มีความคิดเห็น:
แสดงความคิดเห็น