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Lori R.

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In search of "Ultimate Lasagna" recipe

by Lori R. » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:00 pm

Husband and I have an anniversary coming up and instead of going out for dinner thought I would make his favorite "comfort food" which is lasagna.

I'm insterested in trying a new recipe and just wondering if anyone has one that is "killer good"?

Thanks!
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Sonja W

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ultimate lasagna

by Sonja W » Sun Oct 14, 2007 6:22 pm

I have tried a variety of lasagna recipes: meat and vegetable, bechamel (instead of red sauce) based, mushroom, etc. All were good - I'd be hard-pressed to pick a favorite.

BUT, what I have found makes a deciding difference between good lasagna and great lasagna is the use of fresh pasta. The texture and flavor of fresh pasta elevates the dish to a whole other level. I usually make my own, but I'm pretty sure you can find fresh pasta sheets at Lotsa Pasta.
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Dan Thomas

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by Dan Thomas » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:20 pm

That's a dish I don't think I have ever made the same way twice..
But like most things, if you start with quality ingredients, then you can't go wrong...Besides there is no "bad" lasagne IMHO, some is just better than others!
Dan Thomas
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Beth K.

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by Beth K. » Wed Oct 17, 2007 12:53 pm

Lori, I don't follow a recipe, but I can tell you that using uncased italian sausage, as opposed to ground beef, is a definite additional yum-factor for my lasagna. You can buy it at Kroger now in 1 lb. packages, right next to the ground turkey - you don't even have to uncase it.
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David B

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by David B » Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:37 pm

I usually make lasagna with béchamel and homemade tomato sauce.
tomato sauce:
sweated onions and garlic, add a good amount of olive oil and salt.
some fennel seeds and crushed red pepper flakes.
one can each of tomato paste, tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes(big can)
simmer for a while.
add oregano and basil, parsley and a touch of sugar.

add some more olive oil and salt to taste.

béchamel: blonde roux, milk, nutmeg.

sometimes my wife likes to add ground beef, but it is as good without as with.

I do not care much for the no-boil noodles.
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Deb Hall

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by Deb Hall » Wed Oct 17, 2007 2:26 pm

David,

Do you use only bechamel, and no cheese? or cheese with the bechamel?

Thanks,
Deb
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GaryF

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Re: ultimate lasagna

by GaryF » Wed Oct 17, 2007 3:01 pm

Sonja W wrote:BUT, what I have found makes a deciding difference between good lasagna and great lasagna is the use of fresh pasta. The texture and flavor of fresh pasta elevates the dish to a whole other level. I usually make my own, but I'm pretty sure you can find fresh pasta sheets at Lotsa Pasta.


Really? The one time I tried it with fresh pasta it turned into a horrible, yet tasty, mush. Do you cook the pasta at all before layering?
Perhaps I justI like the tooth feel the dried semolina gives.
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Deb Hall

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by Deb Hall » Wed Oct 17, 2007 4:12 pm

Gary,
it turned into a horrible, yet tasty, mush

Love your description :wink:

The difference could be in your cooking time. When I make lasagne with fresh pasta sheets, I use warm sauce and only cook in long enough for the cheses to melt- not a 45minutes -1 hr like I would with traditional dry noodles...But I also like the "tooth-bite" on those noodles for different lasagnes.

Deb
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David B

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by David B » Wed Oct 17, 2007 5:03 pm

Deb Hall wrote:David,

Do you use only bechamel, and no cheese? or cheese with the bechamel?

Thanks,
Deb


I only use the béchamel usually, I really like a good thick béchamel. I have made it with a mornay sauce before (parma and mozzarella), and it is good that way also, but I like it without the cheese just as much as with. I have also made it with a béchamel/mornay and with ricotta cheese as a separate layer--not in the morney, and that is really good too.

I will, just about 10 minutes before I take it out of the oven, give it a layer of mozzarella and or parmesan cheese so it has time to melt and crust up. Perhaps that is why I can get away without having any cheese in the lasagna.


Oh I forgot-- I usually will roast about two red peppers and put them in the tomato sauce to make roasted red pepper lasagna.
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Lois Mauk

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by Lois Mauk » Thu Oct 18, 2007 12:46 am

My husband proposed to me the first time I made lasagna for him. I've made as many as four pans of it at a time for parties. Always a favorite. And leftovers are delicious. I don't really have a precise recipe, but top-notch ingredients truly are key.

Your favorite red sauce
Bulk Italian sausage
Lean ground beef (chuck is good)
Chopped sweet onion
Fresh basil
Fresh oregano (dried will work in a pinch)
Fresh parsley
"REAL" Parmesan (NOT the stuff in the green can!)
"REAL" Ricotta
"REAL" Mozarella

I don't cook my noodles. Haven't done that for years. I just rinse them while building the layers. I grow my own herbs, but dried oregano and even parsley will work; however, if it is possible to use fresh basil, you won't regret it. No comparison to dried, IMHO.

I mix freshly shredded Parmesan Reggiano, real Ricotta (not cottage cheese) and shredded mozzarella with eggs, black pepper and parsley for the cheese layer.

For the meat sauce, I brown the sausage and ground beef together, drain the fat, add my red sauce and basil, onions and other herbs to taste; then simmer for 20 minutes or so.

Start with a thin layer of meat sauce, then noodles, then dollops of the cheese mixture; repeat till you have at least three layers of noodles.

Cover and bake for 1 hour at 350. Uncover and finish off for about 15 minutes until hot and bubbly throughout.

Enjoy!
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by Jay M. » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:31 pm

We have a recipe that uses bechamel, portabello mushrooms, and proscuitto. It's not traditional, but it is very good.
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Sonja W

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Re: ultimate lasagna

by Sonja W » Thu Oct 18, 2007 6:47 pm

Gary wrote: "Really? The one time I tried it with fresh pasta it turned into a horrible, yet tasty, mush. Do you cook the pasta at all before layering?
Perhaps I just like the tooth feel the dried semolina gives."


Gary, I don't remember cooking the fresh pasta before assembling the dish, so I think your experience may have been due to that.

I think that fresh pasta works especially well when using less-assertive ingredients (sausage, olives, etc.). I really enjoyed it with bechamel, spinach, fresh ricotta, basil leaves and parmesan. It wasn't exactly "light", but it had a rich and delicate flavor that was a nice change from the heartier lasagnas that are more common. [/quote]
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Lori R.

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by Lori R. » Thu Oct 18, 2007 8:27 pm

Thanks everyone for all the great suggestions! I was wondering if everyone had their own way of making lasagna...kind of like everyone had their favorite burger recipe. Ohhhhhh....that's a whole other topic!

Thank you again!
Lori
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GaryF

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Re: ultimate lasagna

by GaryF » Thu Oct 18, 2007 11:53 pm

Sonja W wrote:Gary wrote: "Really? The one time I tried it with fresh pasta it turned into a horrible, yet tasty, mush. Do you cook the pasta at all before layering?
Perhaps I just like the tooth feel the dried semolina gives."


Gary, I don't remember cooking the fresh pasta before assembling the dish, so I think your experience may have been due to that.

I think that fresh pasta works especially well when using less-assertive ingredients (sausage, olives, etc.). I really enjoyed it with bechamel, spinach, fresh ricotta, basil leaves and parmesan. It wasn't exactly "light", but it had a rich and delicate flavor that was a nice change from the heartier lasagnas that are more common.
[/quote]

That is exactly what I did, Sonya. I didn't cook it long at all, but thinking about it now I realize that any pre-cooking was truly a recipe for failure.

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