Lasagna - Share Your Favorite Recipe
 What I need now is the BEST lasagna recipe you've ever tasted or made. Tell me your secrets. What do you add or do special that gives your recipe that little extra "uummphh" that keeps people drooling for more??  I know we've got some great Italian cooks on this forum, so please DISH!!  |
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| I have my own favourite lasagna recipe: 1. Call Kim's mum. 2. Tell her it's been a while and I'd love one of her lasagnas. 3. Receive amazing lasagna in 1-2 days. |
Can I have Kim's Mum's number, please?  |
| Car keys CostCo............. Seriously, I've never made it the same way twice so no solid recipe. To me it is a creative enterprise, vary the meats, cheeses, maybe veggies. Not too much wet stuff......and let it set up before serving. |
| Ok, here it is... finely diced pancetta. Crisp it up with the onion and garlic when you are making the sauce. I always add meat to my sauce to give it some body, either ground beef (the good stuff) or italian sausage out of the casing. Add the pancetta to the sauce and there is another layer of flavor. I estimate 4-6 ounces precooked. You don't want to overpower the sauce, just bump up the flavor. In a real pinch I have used precooked bacon pieces you get near the croutons. NOT those fake pink bacon bits- REAL bacon pieces. It isn't quite as good, but being handy counts! (also for a very special occasion I make my own ricotta- VERY easy, and tastes better to me...) (( I guess I'm assuming about the making your own sauce part  ))Shellie |
| I follow the recipe (not boiling noodles 1st) on the noodle box!! |
Beaureguard's Mom wrote: Can I have Kim's Mum's number, please? You beat me to it!  kristine |
Susan - that's my usual way of making lasagna, too. The frozen section of the local Lowes Foods.  I know this sounds weird, because I love to cook, but, I've never made a lasagna from scratch.  I've been making my own sauce for years and it gets rave reviews. I decided it was time to add lasagna to my receipts. Thanks for the tip, Shellie. I will definitely try the panchetta! |
| I start with l lb of hamburger and Italian sausage cooked, I add onion, green peppers and mushrooms if all like them...all fresh. I then use a good jar sauce like prego that is seasoned with garlic...two big jars. Drain meat and add to sauce to simmer. I then add a egg to 2 cups of cottage cheese and a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. Cook noodles and drain. Lots of mozzarella cheese...sliced and shredded. I always use glass 9 x 13 pan...sauce first, noodles, sauce, cottage cheese mixture, sliced mozzarella and start over layering until you run out...one box of lasagna noodles, 3 pkgs of sliced mozzarella cheese..I use small bag of shredded cheese for top of lasagna. Bake covered with foil at 350 for one hour...take foil off last 10 minutes. Let it sit 20 minutes before cutting. |
| I like using fresh Lasagne noodles the refrigerated ones no boiling just lay between ingredients. Now I want to make a lasagne. |
| Does "oven-ready" mean you don't cook them first? I don't know that I've ever seen fresh lasagna noodles in the refrigerator section. Ravioli, fettuccini, angel hair - yes, but I can't recall seeing lasagna. I'm thinking about signing up for some culinary classes at Johnson & Wales this Fall. They've got four-hour classes on Saturday mornings that feature different types of cuisine. A Taste of Italy, A Taste of Spain, Dairy Product (like how to make your own goat cheese and mozzarella). Sounds like fun, huh?  |
| Hey, I've never seen fresh noodles of any type, but I guess our tortilla selection is better than the rest of your's instead........sigh. Love the idea of pancetta in the sauce......or bacon?? Always, well almost always, use It. sausage with the gb. Mozz, Provolone, Parm and ricotta cheeses.....yum. Have even made it "noodless" by slicing zucchini long, salting it to remove moisture, pat dry and use in place of noodles. Tried potatoes as well, interesting but didn't hold together quite as well. Vegetarian lasagna is big here too.....or what I call "green" lasagna: spinach and cheeses...sometimes zuccs and eggplant....even carrots sliced very thin or precooked a bit. I don't care for the tomato sauce in the "green" lasagna, but it does represent the Italian flag......... You can prep the whole thing and freeze it before cooking. The cheese doesn't change texture all that much and is sure handy to have on hand during the Holidays. And the best part.....lasagna is good for breakfast. |
| I am an original Mama-Mia italian! Everything from scratch... First, make your own gravy (or sauce as the non-Italians call it ). make a meat gravy and let it simmer many hours on simmer on your stove top. Or you can also make a wonderful meat gravy in your crockpot. I use chop meat, sausage and sometimes pork, ground up, cooked in a skillet, drained. Make your gravy with that.I also use the no bake lasagna. I know Barilla makes them and so does Ronzoni. Trick with using the no bake noodles it to overlap them in the pan and make sure you cover them with the gravy so they don't burn when baking. When layering, I also use the same meat mixture mix, layer with Ricotta cheese and mozzarella... Now I am starving.... |
| My sister's husband, who was Italian, said this recipe was the best he'd ever had. I've always loved it and so have my children. This recipe is from the Betty Crocker recipe file from 1973. I was a newlywed at the time and was excited to get a new pack of recipes each month. I've made many recipes out of this file and nothing has ever failed. I hope you like the lasagna. 1 lb ground beef 2 cups creamed cottage cheese 1/2 lb ground lean pork 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes 3 packages (4 ounces each) shredded mozzarella cheese 1 can (12 oz) of tomato paste 2 teaspoons of garlic salt 12 ounces lasagne noodles cooked and well drained 1/2 teaspoon of oregano leaves 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon of basil leaves In Dutch oven or large skillet, cook and stir meats until brown. Drain off fat. Add tomatoes, break up with fork. Stir in tomato paste, garlic salt, oregano leaves and basil leaves. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat: simmer uncovered 20minutes or until mixture is consistency of spaghetti sauce. Heat over to 350 degrees. Stir together cottage cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Set aside 1 cup of the meat sauce and 1/2 cup of the mozzarella cheese. in ungreased baking pan (13x9x2 inches,0 alternate layers of 1/3 each noodles, remaining meat sauce, remaining mozzarella cheese and the cottage cheese mixture. Spread reserved meat sauce over top, sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle reserved mozarella cheese across lasagne. Bake uncovered 45 minutes. Let stand 15 minutes before cutting. cut into 3-inch squares. 8 servings. I've changed one thing over the years, i only need 6 noodles and i start the water boiling and then put the noodles in and turn the water off the eye. I let the noodles soak for about 5-10 minutes as I'm preparing other things...they soak in the sauce a bit better and stay together when you're laying in the layers. I hope you enjoy! |
| Also, for those who make their own sauce (I'm not Italian )or 'gravy', always use San Marzano tomatoes, if you can't use your own home grown. It makes a HUGE difference. Yes they are more expensive, but trust me it is well worth the diff in $. Much bigger flavor, much fuller. More of the tomatoey flavor I remember as a kid. I am making my sause this weekend. I make it and freeze it, and boy does it taste fantastic in February when good tomatoes are a distant memory. I even add a couple cans of San Marzano (sp?) to my 2 bushels of sauce tomatoes. Can't wait for some finished sauce, maybe I'll do a lasagna since I'm hungry for it now. Shellie |
| I make mine using the receipe on the Creamette lasagna noodle box, sometimes I add It sausage if I have it but imagine the pancetta would be good. It's always been a winner and I really like it. Do love Mama Mia's but don't live near Milw anymore. |
| My favorite recipe is like Violet's. Sauce from scratch. The pan weighs about 5 pounds when it's done and it sure is good. For this recipe I use the "boil noodles" but when I'm doing lasagna on the fly I use no cook noodles (and jarred sauce). |
| Indeed San Marzanos are the best for gravy! Still too warm here for lasagna, but is on for when it cools a bit. DH will be pleased, he LOVES lasagna. |
| I made it "once". From a Betty Crocker recipe years and years ago. I made two pans so I could freeze one. The one thing I remember from making it...the sauce or gravy took forever. Hours to simmer. |
for veggie and wine lovers  Café Roka's Artichoke and Portobello Mushroom Lasagna 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 large onion, medium dice 1 pound portobello mushrooms, medium dice 1/2 cup dry white wine 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 (14-ounce) can artichokes (packed in water), drained and coarsely chopped Salt and pepper 1 pound coarsely chopped spinach 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 1/4 cup flour 4 1/2 cups milk 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained Ground nutmeg 1 (9-ounce) box oven-ready lasagne sheets (no-boil style) 1 pound grated whole milk mozzarella Bring a large pot of water to the boil to blanch the spinach. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet heated over medium-high heat until hot, then add the olive oil and the onion. Cook the onion, stirring frequently, until the onion starts to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Increase the heat to high, stir in the mushrooms and continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until any of the liquid released from the mushrooms has evaporated, 8 to 10 minutes. While the mushrooms are cooking, blanch the spinach: Add the spinach, in batches, to the boiling water and cook until the spinach softens and turns a bright green, 30 seconds to 1 minute. Transfer the spinach in a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Repeat until all of the spinach is blanched. Drain the spinach, and wrap it in a large kitchen towel, squeezing the towel to drain the spinach of any excess moisture. When the liquid from the mushrooms has evaporated, add the white wine, stirring to scrape any flavoring from the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic and artichokes, stirring until completely combined. Taste the mixture, and add three-fourths teaspoon salt and one-half teaspoon pepper, or season as desired. Stir in the spinach, then taste and season again if needed. Remove from heat and set aside. Make the tomato-bechamel sauce: In a medium, heavy-bottom saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. When the butter is foamy, whisk in the flour. Slowly whisk in the milk and cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture begins to thicken and take on a sauce-like consistency, 10 to 12 minutes. Slowly stir in the parmesan cheese, and when the cheese is melted, stir in the tomatoes. Taste the sauce, adding three-fourths teaspoon salt and one-fourth teaspoon pepper, along with a pinch of nutmeg, or season as desired. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and assemble the lasagna: On the bottom of a 13-inch by 9-inch baking dish, ladle about 1 cup of the tomato-bechamel sauce. Cover the sauce with a single layer of lasagna noodles. Sprinkle one-fourth of the vegetable mixture over the noodles, then ladle over another cup of the sauce. Top the sauce with one-fourth of the grated mozzarella. Repeat with the noodles, vegetables, sauce and mozzarella until you have 4 layers (if you have more than one cup of sauce left when assembling the fourth layer, go ahead and pour all of the remaining with that layer before sprinkling over the last of the mozzarella cheese). The dish can be assembled up to this point, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated up to a day before baking; remove the plastic wrap and leave the lasagna out at room temperature while heating the oven before continuing with the next step. Cover the baking dish with foil and place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drippings. Bake the lasagna for 45 minutes. Increase the temperature to 450 degrees, remove the foil from the lasagna and continue baking until the top is lightly browned, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove and cool slightly on a rack for 20 minutes before serving. Serves 10-12 |
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