A spin on a traditional lasagna…For this recipe, we’re making every element from scratch. From the lasagne sheets to the ragu, to the béchamel sauce. This one’s quite hands on but the results are worth it.
Sheets of pasta don’t just have to become lasagne! In Liguria, they’re traditionally served tossed in pesto, but they’re great with any creamy, rich sauce. This silky celeriac pasta is brightened up by green olive tapenade, with a yellow confit egg yolk – inspired by London restaurant Bancone’s signature dish – adding a flourish of richness.
This is what I make for my children’s birthday celebrations, for farewell suppers to send them off before they go away, and for the dinners to welcome them back when they come home again. It’s our family take on a traditional lasagne, though I’m not sure Italians would exactly welcome my deviations from the classical recipe. For one thing, I don’t make my own lasagne sheets; while I have in the past, I now routinely use dried ones out of a packet and, what’s more, I don’t boil them first. In order, then, to ensure they soften properly, I make a slightly more liquid meat sauce than is customary and, rather than have a covering of béchamel at the end, I finish with a layer of meat sauce, topped with chopped mozzarella on top. None of this is proper from a North Italian perspective, but the lasagne it yields is pleasure-giving and gratifyingly popular. I can’t say that this is exactly faff-free to make: but it is time-consuming rather than difficult. I adore pottering about the kitchen making it. What’s more, you can layer it up (bar the mozzarella topping) in advance (see notes) and bake when needed. And I make this even if there isn’t a whole tableful of people to eat it; I freeze leftovers in individual portions, to make for most superior ready-meals at a later date. For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
No, it’s not all about the meat.
It is always a good idea to leave lasagne to rest for at least 20 minutes before serving. This not only lets the flavours settle and firm up, but it also provides a breather for the cook. Time to sort or tidy up, make a salad and gather everyone to the table for a slice of this splendid, luxurious but functional lasagne
Light scallop and crab mousse nestling between lasagne sheets make this Galvin brothers dish a firm favourite at their Baker Street restaurant
Different versions of pasta recipes have been going around the Scandinavian blogosphere for a while now, and today I decided it was time to try it out. I was a bit sceptical before I started and found it a bit hard to believe that a ‘’pasta’’ based on eggs, cream-cheese and psyllium-husk could actually taste like the real thing. But it did! At least when it was combined with loads of yummy pasta-sauce and cheese. Previously I have been using zucchini in stead of pasta sheets. That tastes quite alright as well, but this recipe here really had that lasagne-feel that I had been missing. Pasta: 3 eggs 100 g (softened) Philadelphia cheese 50 ml (15 grams) psyllium husk Beat eggs and Philadelphia cheese. Add psyllium husk. Let stand to thicken for around ten minutes. Cover a baking tray with baking paper. Place the pasta mass onto the baking paper, and place another baking paper on top of it. Use a rolling pin to spread the mass into quite a thin layer. Then bake on 150 degrees C for 10 minutes, with the baking-paper still on top. Then remove the top baking paper and part into little squares resembling lasagne sheets. Let it cool down. Sauce: 500 g minced meat 1 onion 1 garlic clove 1 jar of tomato paste 1 1∕2 jar of cottage cheese Spices (I used salt, Trocomare, pepper and oregano) Grated cheese Brown the mince and add garlic, onion, tomato paste and spices. Let simmer for a few minutes. Place half the mince into an oven safe tray. Then add a layer of lasagne sheets followed by a layer of cottage cheese. Now comes a second layer of minced meat, then lasagne sheets and cottage cheese. Finish with a layer of sprinkled cheese and bake on 200 degrees C for 30 minutes. Serve with a salad. I got the inspiration from www.ingridsblogg.no, who again has found inspiration from www.fotballfrue.no I also found a similiar pasta recipe on www.lilalife.no. Tip: Instead of lasagne sheets, you can actually use the recipe to make tagliatelle. Then you first sprinkle the cooked pasta mass with some olive oil (avoids clumping), roll the cooked pasta mass up, and cut it thinly using a knife. For a photo, see http://www.matblogg.net/2012/02/03/er-det-pasta-mon-tro/ I haven’t made it yet, but it will definitely be my next project.
Get creative with pasta sheets and roll up your filling for a fun take on a veggie lasagne
And now… thanks to the tiny country called San Marino… I’ve finally learned that I can have the best of two worlds: lasagna and cinnamon rolls. The dish is called Nidi di Rondine, or Swallow’s Nests. Think fresh sheets of pasta spiraled like a cinnamon bun, but layered with bechamel sauce, cheese, and ham (and a pinch of nutmeg). Then the whole shebang is baked on a bed of more bechamel sauce, under a sprinkling of Parmesan, for an ultra creamy casserole.
Green Eggs and Ham Lasagne - gooey, cheesy layers of spinach, ham, and creamy white sauce encase a hidden surprise of a perfectly baked egg in each piece.
Although pasta is allowed on the Slimming World plan, pasta was never intended to be eaten this way, so there is some discussion going on about whether or not these should be "free food" or not. My suggestion is that you pair these with other super free foods in order to consider them syn-free. You can make a salsa from canned chopped tomatoes and fresh ingredients to go with these, or you can use these in a taco salad, adding them to lettuce, tomatoes, spring onions, kidney beans, Quorn mince and healthy extra serving of grated cheese. Ingredients lasagana sheets seasoning (whatever seasoning you prefer) low calorie oil spray/Fry Light Directions 1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. 2. Boil the lasagna sheets in boiling water for 4 minutes and then remove them from the water. 3. Lay the lasagna sheets on a cutting board and cut each one, individually, into four triangles. 4. Lay the triangles on a baking tray. Spray the triangles with Fry Light and sprinkle seasoning over them. 5. Bake in the preheated oven for 5 to 7 minutes. (You want them to be starting to turn golden without going brown.) Then turn them over. 6. Spray the other side of the triangles with Fry Light and sprinkle the seasoning over them. 7. Bake in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes, until they are golden but before they turn brown. Enjoy! Note: For my "Doritos", I used butter flavored Fry Light and Tex Mex seasoning. Tweet
You won’t believe this lasagne is meat free. We promise you. And it’s also not even a compromise - we argue - IT’S BETTER! There is a time in everyone's month when they crave a a hearty lasagne, loaded with cheese. Serve this up for friends with a nice glass of vino.
