Hongster’s Home-made Lasagne Magic
Dis is a recipe as taken from da Joy of Cooking book I keepa talking about - de older version dat I like-a so much. I haven't used it in years, but I remember the process well and would like to share it with you...
De following picture does not look like de finished product, but I got it from a clip-art file and modified it - you should see what it looked like before (click the link)!!!! The artist either never ate a real lasagne was colour-blind or doing an Andy Warhol!!
Whatta you need:
Flour, Pasta Machine, eggs, water, and lotsa patience. Iffa no
patience, then getta ready made lasagne sheets - see if I care!
Also, garlic, onions, bacon, Minced beef, tomatoes, mushrooms, oregano, basil, olive oil, mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, butter, milk, salt and pepper.
Make pasta dough using:
3 eggs
300 g flour (you can mix strong white flour with plain flour, or
even better if you have fine semolina)
1 tsp salt
Water (usually 1 or 2 tblsp)
Place dry ingredients into mixing bowl. Add the eggs and mix (or pulse in a blender). Add enough water to form a stiff dough. Knead for about 5 minutes. Place in a bowl and cover for 30 mins. This will allow the individual grains of flour to absorb the moisture, and even out.
Roll out a portion of the dough and feed it through the pasta machine rollers, set at its widest. Fold in half and repeat process 20 times, adding flour when the dough becomes too sticky. This process will knead the dough for you - saving you the effort of doing it by hand. The more times you fold it over, the more resilient the dough will be when cooked. In fact, by folding it over 20 times, you have theoretically made over 1 million layers (I call the process the “Samurai Sword” process). After doing this, cut the dough into smaller portions and feed it through the rollers again, but gradually decreasing the thickness until it is 2 or 3 settings from the minimum (if you plan to make ravioli, then continue until the thinnest setting is reached).
Cut the pasta into large rectangles (10 x 20 cm) - dust with flour to keep them from sticking together.
Bring to the boil a large pot of water, add a teaspoon or 2 of salt and a tablespoon of oil to prevent boiling over.
Cook the sheets of pasta in batches - 5 minutes until cooked (al dente - firm but not so firm that it puts a dent into your teeth) if the pasta is fresh, or longer if dried. Rinse in cold water and drain off excess water.
SAUCY BITS (Bolognaise
sauce)
Crush & finely chop 2 cloves garlic and fry in 2 tablespoons
olive oil for a few seconds.
Add 1 medium to large onion - finely chopped. Stir to prevent
burning. Cook for 1-2 minutes
Mince or finely chop 4-5 rashers of bacon, and add to the onion
and garlic. Fry for 2 minutes
Add 600g minced beef and brown thoroughly. Add 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp
sugar, a dash of pepper, and (horror of horrors) a tablespoon of
light soy sauce.
Get creative and throw in 2 bay leaves, 1 tsp oregano, ¾ tsp
basil, some mixed herbs and stir
Wash and slice 200g mushrooms, add to the lot and stir.
Have ready a tin and a half (600g total) of peeled plum tomatoes
(or real stuff plus a bit of tomato puree), chop/blend and add to
the mince. Add a bit of salt (to draw out the juices) and a bit
of sugar to kill the acidity of the tomatoes.
Allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Taste and make necessary
additions.
If you like, add a swig or 2 of red wine.
Thicken with cornflour mixture if too watery.
I do not use white sauce in between layers - but instead I use 3 different types of cheeses. I have made a shortcut in that I don’t alternate layers of meat sauce, pasta and cheese, but I prefer to just add the cheese to the mince and then alternate the layers of pasta and sauce. SO….
Grate 100g cheddar cheese, 125g mozzarella and add to the meat sauce. Crumble 125g Ricotta cheese and add to the meat sauce and stir.
Preheat the oven to 200 C.
Grease an ovenproof dish measuring 25cm x 35cm (or similar) with butter/margarine.
Cover the bottom with a layer of pasta.
Cover this with a layer of the meat sauce.
Repeat this process until there is no meat sauce left or it is 1cm
from the top of the pan (assuming the pan is not too deep). Cover
with a final layer of pasta.
Prepare a cheese sauce
using:
2 tablespoons butter/margarine
2 - 3 tablespoons flour
1 - 1 ½ cups milk
salt and pepper to taste
50 g cheddar cheese
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour and blend in with a wire whisk (great for preventing lumps forming). As it thickens, gradually add in the milk. Do not allow the sauce to become too thin. Add Salt and pepper to taste. Turn off the heat and add the grated cheese.
Pour the cheese sauce over the top of
the lasagne - this should be about 5 mm thick.
Dust the top with grated parmesan cheese
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until the top is bubbling and browned. (Cooking time also depends on the temperature of the dish before being placed in oven - I usually do it when it is still warm from the meat sauce.
Note - measurements for the meat sauce and the cheeses are approximate - use as a guide and change according to taste. DO NOT omit the ricotta and mozzarella and substitute with cheddar cheese and expect the same results.
Happy cooking.