cooking minette's lasagna!
(this is a repost from a previous date)
why is it so hard to decide what to cook for dinner? even though i actually enjoy cooking, i often find it so hard to choose our menu-and my family is not much help! when i ask them for ideas they rarely come up with any good suggestions or agree with one another, for that matter. one will feel like a light simple dinner while the other is super hungry, or one will ask for a dish the other vehemently dislikes-or better yet, they ask for the impossible-complicated dinners that need hours to prepare or ingredients we don't have available. sound familiar? thought so. i was completely out of ideas yesterday when i hesitantly asked my "consumers" for suggestions. to my surprise, there was consensus: lasagna! i realized it had been ages since i'd made an actual lasagna. even though i try hard to avoid it (for obvious reasons), it's one of my favorite dishes, and even the thought of it makes my mouth water. much to my relief (and with a good dose of excitement), dinner was decided-not the brown rice noodle vegetarian kind (which is quite good too), but the real thing-with a good home made bolognese sauce smothered in creamy béchamel! this is by no means a light dinner-i kept my portion on the smaller side (maybe) and enjoyed (understatement) it with a large bowl of salad. such a comforting dinner.
lasagna ingredients and preparation:
make the following two sauces, and set aside:
béchamel sauce (click on links for recipes)
in addition, you will need the following:
lasagna (no boil) noodles, or if you're up for it(or lucky enough to find some, fresh ones) about 12-14 sheets
a small bunch of organic flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
shredded mozzarella (or sometimes i use a combination of grated parmesan (reggiano) & shredded gruyere) cheese (about 1/2 to 1 cup)
grated good quality parmesan cheese (1/4 cup)
fresh oregano (1 tsp)
in a baking dish, begin with a few spoonfuls of the bolognese sauce (covering the bottom of the dish), then cover with the lasagna noodles (slightly overlapping).
add one more layer of bolognese, a light even sprinkling of parmesan cheese, a few spoonfuls of bechamel sauce (evenly distributed), followed by another row of barely overlapping noodles.
cover the noodles with the remaining bolognese, and then the remaining bechamel sauce, a sprinkling of oregano (or fresh basil works too), parmesan cheese, an even distribution of cheese (adjust amount to taste). the lasagna is ready for the oven when you are (can be refrigerated to be baked later).
bake in a 350 degree oven, lightly covered (foil works well) for about 45 minutes until the cheese is almost golden and bubbling. let the lasagna rest for 10-15 minutes before cutting into it and serving. bon apetit!