Lasagna

Yesterday's snow day was perfect for making lasagna. This is another "weekend only" meal in our house, as since I enjoy the process as much as the result, I take no short-cuts. It takes about 3 hours.

I make my lasagna with two sauces, a Bechemel and a traditional Marinara. The Bechemel is basically a gravy, made by whisking 1 and 1/4 Tbs of melted butter with 1/8 cup of flour in a sauce pan over very low heat. Once it is smooth, I add 1 Cup of milk and reduce it until it is thick. It should never boil. Once it is ready, it needs to be seasoned off heat with an 1/8 of a tsp of salt (at least) and a pinch of nutmeg and white pepper.

The Marinara sauce is made with two quarts of tomatoes (canned this summer from Dad's garden), 1 bunch of basil, 2 diced onions, 4 minced garlic cloves, a tsp of dried oregano (from our garden), a tsp of sugar and salt/pepper. I puree the tomatoes and basil in the food processor while I cook the onions and garlic in olive oil until soft. Then I combine everything in the pan and simmer it until it is thick.

The final prepared layer is 15 ounces of Ricotta (NOT COTTAGE) cheese, 1 Cup of Parmesan cheese, 3 ounces of chopped Prosciutto, 1 Large Egg, 3/4 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of pepper. I use a mixer to combine this layer.

To put it together, I butter the lasagna dish and pour in the Bechemel sauce. Then I place 3 al dente lasagna noodles adjacent to each other and begin making layers, using some of the ricotta mixture, the marinara, some browned and finely chopped Italian sausage and some shredded provolone. I usually make 4 "levels", which requires 12 pieces of pasta. I then put some more Marinara on top and grate some Parmesan on that. It needs to warmed through in the oven at 350 degrees. For Lacey, I finish it under the broiler to brown a little cheese on top. It was pretty good last night. It was great this morning.