Lasagna

Albert Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”. Well, I guess this qualifies me as insane. But this time, I beat Einstein and I got the different results I have been seeking since the beginning of lasagna-making time.

Lasagna

1 package lasagna noodles
1 pound ground beef
3 C spaghetti sauce
1 ½ C water
½ C Parmesan cheese
1/4C chopped parsley
½ t salt
2 C mozzarella cheese
15 oz ricotta
2 eggs
¼ t pepper

Heat oven to 350. In a three quart saucepan, brown meat. Add spaghetti sauce and water, simmer 10 minutes. In a bowl, stir together ricotta, half of the mozzarella, Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour about one cup sauce on the bottom of a 13x9 inch dish. Arrange three uncooked pasta pieces over sauce, cover with about 1 cup of sauce. Spread half of the cheese filling over the sauce. Repeat layers of lasagna noodles, sauce and cheese filling. Top with a layer of noodles and remaining sauce; sprinkle with remaining mozzarella. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes. Remove foil, bake an additional 15 minutes. Let stand 10-15 minutes before serving. 10-12 servings.

I’ve had this recipe for a few years now. The very first time I made it, the dish turned out great. With that success under my belt, I gave it another try a few months later. The result was a colossal failure. It was way too watery and it absolutely fell apart when you cut into it, just totally inedible. I was shocked and dismayed, but I persevered and tried again. Another disaster. By now the husband is questioning my sanity. Tried again, despite his pleas to never go near the recipe again. Another watery disaster. Completely defeated, I shelved the recipe indefinitely and satiated my lasagna cravings by ordering the dish at restaurants where trained professionals could create the pasta/meat/cheese masterpiece that I was destined to never produce.

So when I was compiling the list of recipes for this project, I found my long lost lasagna recipe and decided to give it another try. I’ve listed the ingredients above just the way the original recipe was written, and when I took a second look at the ingredient list I suddenly understood why my lasagna recipe was lacking. The whole problem was that its cup runneth over – this time with water. The recipe calls for 1 ½ cups of water to mix in with the sauce! It struck me that this was the reason for the problems. Sure you use uncooked noodles in the recipe, but there is no way this much water is required to ensure they are fully cooked and pliable when everything comes out of the oven. So I scrapped the water and voila – a lasagna that is neither watery nor dry and noodles that are completely cooked.

As usual, I made a few changes. I didn’t have any ground beef on hand so I didn’t use any. Meatless lasagna is just as good as the alternative. I also halved the recipe since I am just cooking for myself, and I added feta cheese to the ricotta mixture. The flavor of the feta really didn’t come through all that much, as I didn’t use a whole lot. I also used my fresh herbs from my little herb garden – parsley and oregano.

Here’s a tip – the recipe calls for a piece of aluminum foil to cover the dish before it goes into the oven. In my case, the fully assembled lasagna came up to the very top of the dish, including the mozzarella cheese, so in order to keep the cheese from sticking to the aluminum foil I sprayed the underside of the foil with a little Pam, and then put the foil down on top of the dish. That way when you take the foil off after it’s been cooking for 45 minutes, you don’t also pull all the cheese off with it. You’re welcome.


When I checked it after 45 minutes of cooking, I stuck a fork in various parts to check the doneness of the noodles. They were still kind of resistant, and I immediately regretted not adding just a little water to the sauce mix. But it was way too late for that now, so I put it back in the oven for the required 15 minutes and crossed my fingers. When it came out, the sauce was bubbling like a pent up volcano and the cheese had a nice browning around the edges. I let it cool for a few minutes and then cut a slice, noticing the noodles had definitely softened up in that last 15 minutes. Thank goodness.




The taste was good, but not earth shattering. It tasted like lasagna, and it was better than some places I’ve eaten lasagna as of late. I would cook it again. But the main thing is that it actually turned out well and was distinguishable as lasagna, not a watery mess. Huge accomplishment.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce

This was another one of those "What the hell am I thinking" kind of recipes. It looks very intimidating, it's a totally unfamiliar cooking concept, and it requires a certain exactness in measurements that I simply don't seem to possess. But yet again, here I am staring down a recipe I am determined to make and I am not about to let anything stop me.

Potato and Ricotta Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce
8 restaurant servings

For gnocchi:
• 1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes
• 1 pound ricotta cheese
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 6 ounces all-purpose flour – by weight – plus more for dusting
• 1 1/2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

For sauce:
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, small dice
• 2 stalks celery, small dice
• 1 carrot, small dice
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 pounds ground beef
• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 cup tomato puree
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste

DIRECTIONS
For sauce:
Heat olive oil in large sauté pan until it just begins to smoke. Add pork and beef and sauté until golden brown and cooked through. Break large chunks with a wooden spoon. Remove cooked meat with a slotted spoon and pour off all but 1 tablespoon of liquid left behind.

Return pan to heat and when it just begins to smoke add vegetables and sauté until golden brown. Remove vegetables from pan and pour off remaining liquid.

Return pan to heat and add red wine, scraping bits from the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking wine until it reduces to a syrupy consistency.

Add chicken stock, tomato sauce, and tomato paste to pan and bring to a simmer. Add meat and vegetables and bay leaf to pan and return to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium and let mixture slowly simmer for approximately 30 minutes, or until liquid has reduced to a sauce-like consistency. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.

For gnocchi:
Peel the potatoes and simmer until they can be easily pierced with a small knife. Remove the potatoes from water and let them cool for 5 minutes. While still warm, pass the potatoes through a ricer and let cool for 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, in a medium-size bowl, mix ricotta, egg yolks, salt, pepper and grated Parmesan. (If the ricotta is too soft or watery, line a colander with cheesecloth and set it over a bowl. Set the bowl in the refrigerator and let it drain for 1 hour.)

Add the potato to the ricotta mixture and gently mix by hand. Be careful not to overwork. Add the flour in two portions, mixing by hand and being careful not to overwork. Let the dough rest for 1 hour before portioning.

When ready, dust a clean work surface with flour and divide the dough into 4 portions. Gently roll the dough from the center outwards, stretching to create one long, ropelike piece. The dough should be about 1/2- to 3/4-inch thick.

With a bench scraper, cut the gnocchi into individual pieces approximately 1 inch long. Remove gnocchi to a baking tray dusted with flour. To cook, bring 2 quarts water to a boil and add 2 tablespoons kosher salt. Add 8 to 10 pieces of gnocchi and cook until all the gnocchi begin to float. Warm 3 to 4 ounces Bolognese sauce in a sauté pan.

Quickly remove from boiling water and add gnocchi to the pan with warm Bolognese sauce. Toss to coat and serve immediately.

Finished product


Just, wow. I had no idea I could cook something like this. The pot stickers were awe-inspiring enough, but this was just off the charts. From start to finish, it took about two hours to complete the meal, from the gnocchi dough having to sit for an hour to putting the sauce together. But man, it was worth it! For starters, I am never purchasing store-bought gnocchi ever again. Ever. I mean it. This was kind of time consuming, but the taste is one meeelion times better than that Target brand stuff I bought. Light, fluffy, doughy - all good things. I didn't have a gnocchi board:

... but I managed fine. These are mainly used to make ridges to trap the sauce, but this sauce was so meaty and had so little liquid that it couldn't help but cling to the gnocchi.

And the sauce - wow. First of all, I halved the amount of beef and pork and kept the other measurements for the sauce pretty much the same. I added more of the liquid, like chicken broth, tomato sauce/puree, red wine and tomato paste. However, I simmered it on the stove without a lid so all of that liquid evaporated and we were left with just meat. We got it a little more soupy right before we served it, but it tasted wonderful.

I also made the full amount of gnocchi and froze the extras before I cooked them. When cooking the gnocchi, there was no time table on how long to let them cook before they were ready. I found that it only took about four minutes before they started to rise to the top of the water. I wanted to keep cooking them for fear of them tasting under done, but they were so good.

This is another winner, and it will forever have a place in my recipe box. This would be a good company recipe to make for a dinner party or another big event. The trick would be getting the gnocchi to cook and keep them warm until everyone has a serving, but we covered the individual bowls with foil and that did the trick.

Tip: To freeze leftover gnocchi, place them individually on a large cookie sheet and place in the freezer. When they harden, put them in a Ziploc bag and seal tight. If you just throw them in a bag all together, they'll freeze into a gnocchi blob and will be very hard to thaw and cook properly. They thawed nicely in the bag overnight in the fridge.

Update: A week or two later, I thawed the leftover frozen gnocchi to have for another dinner. The gnocchi held their shape, but they didn't taste as good as when they were fresh. They also seemed a bit more doughy than when they were fresh. They weren't bad, but they're better the first time around.