Lasagna - Next Gen

At heart, this is my mom's lasagna recipe which everyone loved, but with a few slight changes in attention to detail and even my mom says it's better than hers.

Bottom line - it's all about the ingredients.  Quality ingredients will make or break every recipe, and this one is no exception.  In this recipe, it's all about the sauce.  Get the sauce right and the rest of it can have average ingredients.





Sauce
3 lbs ground beef (85-90% - high quality)
2 28 oz cans of tomato sauce (I use Dei Fratelli)
1 28 oz can of crushed tomatos (Dei Fratelli)
1 onion diced
1 green pepper diced
2-3 garlic cloves crushed
salt & pepper

Other Ingredients
2-3 cups home made ricotta cheese + about 1/2 cup cream
OR
1 large container 4% small curd store bought cottage cheese + 1 egg

1-2 Tbls fresh chopped Italian parsely
shredded mozzarella cheese
Lasagna noodles

Make the sauce:
Chop the onion and green pepper. Put in large sauce pot along with the hamburger.  Salt and pepper the meat now before cooking it.  Brown the ground beef.  Stir and crumble the beef while cooking getting the beef into small bits.

The key to this step is to watch the juices.  As the beef browns the water cooks out leaving behind the oil. However, there's a lot of flavor in those juices.  A key mistake people make is draining the beef too soon - they lose a lot of the broth that provides the flavor.  You have two options.  One, cook it down until the the juice is clear and you can see it's just oil.  Then it's ok to drain it off.  The second method is to not drain it off until after you've added the tomato sauce.  The oil will rise to the top and the juices will absorb into the broth. This method only works if your beef isn't too high in fat.  If you use an 85 or 90% beef, it's ok.  Using an 80% been will result in too much fat and a greasy sauce.  95% beef doesn't have enough fat and you won't get the flavor you desire.

One you've got the beef mixture cooked and ready, add the crushed garlic.  Then I add 1 can of the tomato sauce and the can of crushed tomatos. I'll let that cook a bit, and then add about 1/2 to 3/4 of the other can of tomato sauce. As you're cooking the sauce, taste it to determine if you need more salt. I know salt is "bad" for you, but it really does make the difference in this sauce. You don't want the sauce to get too saucy or you'll have runny lasagna. The real key is to let the sauce cook.  I like to cook it for a couple hours, on low heat stirring (and sampling) occasionally, but 1 hour is good. If it seems to saucy, cook it down more.  If you don't have time, you can add tomato paste to thicken it up.

Cheese Mixture

If you're using homemade ricotta, mix a clove of crushed garlic and some cream with it. Making ricotta at home is REALLY easy.  Here's the recipe I follow, method 2 or 3 are my favorites. But, whatever you do, don't use that gross stuff you buy in the grocery store that they call "ricotta" it simply isn't ricotta cheese! It's some sort of unknown paste! If you're using cottage cheese instead, mix the egg and garlic with it.  Then mix the chopped Italian parsley into whichever one you're using.

Assembly

To assemble, put some oil in the bottom of the pan so the lasagna doesn't stick.  Layer the first layer of lasagna noodles down.  Then put 1/2 of of the cheese mixture down and spread the mozzarella cheese on that - use however much you like.  I probably put about 1-2 cups down.  Then layer the sauce.  Repeat this one more time - noodles, cheese mix, mozzarella cheese, sauce.  I promise next time I make this I will measure how much sauce I put down. I never end up using all the sauce, but I do use nearly all of it.

I know it sounds crazy, but I sprinkle that fake powedery parmesan cheese on the top layer.  That's how mom always did it and it adds a nice flavor.  I never use that stuff on ANYTHING else because it's not like REAL parmesan.  So, I always keep a little around only for this recipe!

Cook it for 1 1/2 to 2 hours at 350.  You'll know it's done when it's bubbly around the edges and in the middle too.  When it's done, be sure to let it sit for at least 10 minutes before you cut it or it will fall all over.

Salute!

Bruschetta

From or our last party I first blogged the dessert,  but now it's time to go back to the beginning...one of my favorite appetizers.  Bruschetta.  YUM!

For the crostini:

Hearty Italian bread

1/4 olive oil

3 garlic cloves

Cut the bread into medium-thin slices. Heat the olive oil. Don't heat too hot, because you don't want to burn the garlic. Once heated, remove from heat and crush three cloves into the oil. Using a baster or kitchen paint brush, brush both sides of the bread with the garlic oil. Put bread under broiler and toast it on both sides. Watch it carefully or you'll burn it like I always do! I frequently buy extra bread because I always get so distracted that I'm famous for ruining the first batch!

For the mix:

4-5 Roma tomatoes

1-2 Tblsp finely diced red onion

1 garlic clove

1/3 to 1/2 cups chopped fresh basil

1/3 to 1/2 cups balsamic vinegrette dressing

Mozzarella cheese

Seed and dice the Romas.  I usually cut them lengthwise and then scrape the seeds out with my fingers, it's easier that way and I love getting my hands messy!  Once you've removed the seeds, dice them into small pieces.  Add the finely diced red onion, 1 clove crushed garlic, chopped basil, and the vinnegrette.  I make my vinegrette with red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, honey, and oil, but you can use a store bought version that you like. 

Put the tomato mixture on the bread.  I usually use a fork so I don't get too much of the dressing with the mixture so the bread won't get soggy.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and place under broiler and cook until the cheese is bubbly.  Watch it closely so it doesn't burn.

Salute!

Tiramisu - the Italian way!

Last night we held another Italian Feast for a group of work friends. When I brought out the tiramisu for dessert, one of them said it was so good we should have started with it!  So, as I blog the entire feast over the next couple weeks, I thought I'd take his advice and start with the dessert!

There are about as many variations of Tiramisu as there are piercings and tattoos in most high schools and I think I've sampled just about every one of them, not all of them good!  My idea of a good tiramisu is to have a creamy layer that is not too light and airy like whipped cream, and that the alcohol flavors are subtle and not overwhelming.

What follows here is the culmination of my 3 year journey to create the best tiramisu ever, one that IF I were Italian, my Italian grandmother would be proud of!

This recipe fills a meatloaf pan.  If you want a smaller portion, you can cut it in half.

Step 1 - Make the Zabaglione

Ingredients:
10 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
2/3 cup Sweet Marsala wine

Add the sugar to the egg yolks and whisk together.  First I have to digress and talk about quality of ingredients.  I bought some farm eggs from the lady I bought the raw milk from, and I couldn't believe the difference in richness of the yolk and clarity of the whites.  Check out these pictures!  You can see ths difference of color and the icky white yuk clinging to the store bought egg.

Over medium heat stir and add the marsala wine. Stir constantly or it will get clumpy. It takes 10 to 15 minutes, but eventually it will come together into a firm custard like mixture. Once firm, put in bowl and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour.

Step 2. - Make the creamy layer

Ingredients:
1 pint whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 tablespoon sugar
2 pints or approx 32 oz of high quality mascarpone

Whip the whipping cream, vanilla, and sugar until firm peaks form.  In a separate bowl, mix the mascarpone with the zabaglione.  Once mixed, fold in the whipping cream. Cover and let sit in the refriderator for at least 1 hour.

The whipped cream

Adding the zabaglione to the mascarpone

This is the blended zabaglione and mascarpone

  Fold in the whipped cream

Step 3 - assemble

Ingredients:
lady fingers
strong brewed coffee
3 shots of espresso
1/4 sugar
1/2 cup Godiva liquer
Ground chocolate (I use Ghiradelli ground chocolate, but you can use a chocolate bar and a cheese grater too.)

Brew the coffee, strong,  I usually use about 3/4 of a pot.  Add the espresso, sugar, and the Godiva liquer.  This is the liquid that the lady fingers get dunked in.  When dunking them you do it quick on both sides.  If they soak up too much they will fall apart.  If they don't soak up enough, you lose flavor. It's a fine art.

When I assemble I layer them upside down.  I line my pan with plastic wrap and then assemble upside down so that I can turn it out onto a platter and garnish with shaved chocolate.  So first I put in the creamy layer, then some ground chocolate, then the lady fingers.

Salute!
Julia

Chicken Spaghetti - the healthy way

I don't always make big fattening meals even though my figure would indicate to the contrary!  I've been on so many diets that I've come up with some pretty healthy variations that still feed my desire for hearty Italian food.  This week I made one of them and here it is.  We call it simply Chicken Spaghetti.  It's so simple, it's almost embarrassing.

Ingredients:

1/2 box Spaghetti (I like the "Thin" spaghetti)

1 large can of diced tomatoes

1 medium onion

fresh garlic

Real parmesan - shredded

2-3 chicken breasts cut into bite sized pieces

olive oil

Before I get into the instructions I need to take a diversion to talk about ingredients.  If you were my husband (who is my personal shopper :), you'd know how brand picky I am.  The reason I'm brand picky is about quality.  The quality of your ingredients will make all the difference in the result.  To that end, I will name brands that I have found are the best quality - at least the best available to me in a medium sized town.  There are times that I will take the hour trek up to the Twin Cities to be able to really buy the best stuff, but that's usually for really special occasions like the Italian Feasts that we have done annually for nearly a decade now.

Now onto the instructions. Start a pan of water to cook the spaghetti.  Once it's come to a boil, add salt (at least a teaspoon) to the boiling water, and then add the spaghetti.  The salt in the water is an important step. Your pasta will taste MUCH better if you salt the water.  But don't add the salt until the water is boiling, unless you like to ruin your pot!

While I'm onto pet peeves, here's another one: DO NOT add oil to the water.  I don't understand this concept and it's one of my major pet peeves.  Adding oil may help the pasta to not stick, but it also makes it so any sauces you put on it don't cling the way they should.  I was blown away when I saw a cooking show many years ago and a well respected chef said to put oil in the water to keep the pasta from sticking.  I thought he was CRAZY.  All you have to do to prevent sticking is to stir it several times in the first couple minutes. Ok, back to the instructions!

Dice the onions and sauté them in olive oil. Once they are becoming translucent add the chicken.

Once the chicken is all cooked up, add the can of diced tomatoes and crushed garlic.  I really like the Dei Fratelli brand tomatoes shown in the picture at the ingredients section, but it's best if you can find a brand that doesn't come pre-seasoned.  I know there's one that's something like Basil/Garlic/Peppers flavored...ICK. I mean, it's probably good in some dishes, but I don't like it in this dish.  But hey...maybe you will if you want to try it.  Just don't complain to me if it is gross.

And about the garlic. Don't add the garlic before this step or you'll probably burn it, and there's nothing worse than burned garlic! I like...scratch that...I LOVE garlic. I put four big cloves in this time, but you can put however much you like. But...I'm telling ya...the garlic makes this dish so be generous with it!

Mix it up and simmer this for a few minutes and then taste it to see if you need to add salt.  Add however much you want.

Drain the spaghetti and put it back into the pot you cooked it in.  Then pour the chicken mixture on the spaghetti and mix it all together.  As I'm mixing, I always add some fresh grated parmesan.  It's a low fat cheese that really adds a nice layer of flavor.

There you have it...low fat...relatively healthy...and SUPER tasty.

Salute!

Pi Day

In honor of Pi Day (March 14th...get it?...Pi...3.14) and my mathematician husband, I made a deep dish chicago style Pizza Pie with a cornbread crust like Lou Malnati's in Chicago makes.







Ingredients

Crust:
1 pkg. quick rise yeast
1 cup warm water (110°-120°)
1 Tblsp. honey
½ tsp. coarse salt
2 tbl. olive oil
2½ cups + ¼ cup flour during kneading
1 cup cornmeal

Sauce:
1 large can crushed tomatos
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tbsp dried basil
salt to taste

Filling:
Provolone cheese slices
Shredded Mozzarella cheese
Buffalo Mozzarella cheese
Pepperoni
Sweet Italian sausage
Hot Italian sausage
Green pepper
Red pepper
Onion - finely chopped

Directions

To make the crust, stir honey into warm water until mostly dissolved.  Add yeast and let sit.  You'll know the little buggers are alive if it foams.  Beware if it doesn't foam, it means you probably murdered them with too hot of water, or they were already deceased before you got to them.  There is no resurrecting dead yeast.  Stop now and get new yeast or the rest will be a complete failure!

In a mixing bowl combine the flour, cornmeal, and salt.  Make sure you mix it up.  I usually use a whisk to do the job.  Add the water/yeast mixture and the olive oil and mix until it starts to come together.  Don't over-do the mixing here. Use the other 1/4 cup flour now to bring it together.  If you don't need it all, fine.  If you need more, fine.  Just get it into a nice ball that comes together. Dump it out on your clean surface and work it with your hands. Knead it together for a few minutes until it forms a ball nicely.  Lightly coat it with some olive oil and put it in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.  Let rise for an hour or more until about doubled in size.

Meanwhile, make the sauce.  Heat some olive oil, crush the garlic and let it steep in the oil.  Be careful not to let the oil get too hot or you'll burn the garlic and that's a BIG YUCK if you burn it.  Burned garlic is very bitter.  Add the crushed tomatoes and spices and simmer for 20 minutes.  It's now ready for your pizza.

  

Cook the Sausage.  If you're doing sausage, here's what I did and it works great.  I buy sweet and hot italian sausage. I mix them together by hand - which is the totally fun part because its so gooey and messy!  I then form them into patties and fry them. 

To assemble, roll dough out to fit your pan ensuring there is enough to make it go up the sides. Speaking of pans...let's talk about that.  In my pictures I used my old Pampered Chef stoneware, which is awesome, but I don't like the square shape.  What would be most ideal (and now officially on my wish list) would be a heavy duty pan like this one (ignoring the obvious silly Mickey Mouse layout here).

After you roll the dough out, but BEFORE you put it in the pan, put about 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan.  Olive oil won't crisp up the crust as nicely as the vegetable oil.  One of these times I'm going to try adding a little melted butter too for flavor.  But the idea here is that you want the crust to get nice and crispy on the outside. 

Lay the dough in, cut any excess off the sides and press along the sides firmly.

Now layer the cheese.  I start with the flat provolone slices, then put the shredded mozz and cubed up buffalo mozz down. 

Then layer the meat.  I did pepperoni first, then sausage.  Then I layered the onions and peppers. 

Of course you can change it up and put whatever fillings in you want.  I have one rule in Pizza and that is "No Fish, Fruit, or Fungus!"  I know all you mushroom lovers out there just don't get this, but I warned you that I was picky.  Anyway, the only rule you CAN'T break is cheese is on bottom.  I find it best to put meats next and then veggies, but if you really want to change that...take a risk...be daring...I double dog dare you!

Once you have it all layered, then put the sauce on top.  I like more sauce than other people so be your best judge, but you need to make sure you get enough on so it doesn't dry out.  I usually use all the sauce that the can made.

Bake at 425 F for about 30-45 minutes (depends on how big and deep your pan is).  You'll know it's done when the crust has browned, the filling is bubbling, and the crust usually pulls away from the sides of the pan.

Salute!