Yummmmm.

The poll didn't get much action, but it looks like the winner was FOOD.  I will still write a political post soon, because it came in a close second, and so did entertainment.  Of course a family post will be coming sooner or later as well.  But for now...Food it is!  You guys really don't think I'm some kind of brilliant chef, I hope.  I bet I won't be posting a lot here that you hadn't heard before.  But who knows, right?  So let's do it!

Today I'll just be obvious and post about my Lasagne. 

Note the spelling. Yes, Lasagne with an "E" at the end.  Lasagna is the popular spelling, and it's not wrong, it's just singular.  Lasagne is plural, Lasagna is singular. Are you using just one noodle?  No?  Good, because that would suck.  So go ahead and refer to your use of multiple noodles in this recipe as making Lasagne, and when your computer's spell check or that one overly-helpful cooking-savvy relative of yours try to correct you, you can now confidently ignore it.

Moving on!

First of all, I am not a food snob.  I will eat pretty much anything and almost anywhere.  I do prefer to use unsalted real butter, and if you start using it you'll know why.  But it's not a big deal.  There isn't a lot I am picky about.  I love Olive Garden.  Yes, I know it's not real Italian.  I don't care, it's still good.  And my kids love it.  I only say this because I have literally had people embarrassed to serve me spaghetti before because they are afraid I'm some kind of pasta professional.  FYI, being Italian doesn't automatically make you a good chef.  And you know what?  I have jars of Barilla, Prego, and Ragu in my pantry right this second. Because some days I just don't have it in me to start from scratch, ya know?  So no judgment here.  To each his own.  Her own. Whatever.

Second, I use a lot of flavor.  You may find it too bold for your taste.  There's no copyright on these recipes, you know.  You can play around and adjust things to your preferences.  I like my stuff with a big POW, so just be forewarned.

Thirdly (yes, thirdly is absolutely a real word), I don't measure anything.  Okay, sometimes I do.  But not often, and almost never with my own recipes. I will try to just explain in generic terms what I use, and hopefully it will translate and just be intuitive for you. 

Finally, there are two words I will use in this post that might be familiar to some, but not to all, so I will just be on the safe side and explain them now.  They are SUGO and BECHAMEL.  Bechamel is supposed to have an accent over the "E" but I don't know how to do it on my laptop.

Sugo means sauce.  Simple.  But doesn't it sound so much yummier when you say "sugo" instead?  My husband and the kids call the stuff in jars and in restaurants "sauce," and reserve the title of "sugo" for my recipe.  They also call my mamma's recipe "sugo" but it's essentially the same stuff.  By the way, it's SUE-go, or SOO-go, rhymes with "who" and "go"...not Suh-go or Shu-go or however-the-heck you were pronouncing it in your head. :)

Bechamel is also a sauce.  So technically it should also be sugo, but we don't work that way. Bechamel is just itself.  Pronounced BEH-sha-mel, it's a simple French white sauce that is used frequently in Italian cuisine, and is the basis for most other white sauces.

Okay, here we go!
  
LASAGNE

Step 1:  The Sugo

I use some many a lot...TONS of veggies in my sugo. So get out your food processor. Wash, peel, cut up, and feed to your food processor:

3 - 5 carrots
3 - 5 celery stalks
1 yellow onion
1/2 - 1 clove of garlic
1/2 a bunch of parsley
A big handful of fresh basil leaves (if you only have dried basil, just wait and add it with the salt later)

My food processor isn't huge, so I usually have to do this in stages.  Like, first just the carrots and some of the celery, then the rest of the celery with the onion and garlic, and so on. Blend it all up and dump it into a big pot with about a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

*Sometimes I feel like red peppers in my sauce.  If I do, I roast them in garlic first, and then put them in the processor with the other veggies. If you like olives and or mushrooms, you can add those too... but that's Putanesca sauce, which is another story entirely. We'll save it for another day.

Now you have a big blob of orangish-yellow mush with green flecks.  Saute away!  Cook it in the oil and let it simmer for a few. Then you add:

1 pound of defrosted and LEAN ground beef
1 - 2 teaspoons of salt (and if you are using dried basil instead of fresh, add about 1/3 cup now)

Brown the beef along with the veggies. Keep stirring, get it all mixed in well together. Brad likes it when I leave the ground beef in chunks, instead of crumbly.  But either way, cook it thoroughly. Finally, you add:

2 large cans of tomato sauce
1 small can of diced tomatoes

Fill the emptied small can about 1/2 way with water, and swish it around so you get all the left over sauce on the inside of the can.  Then pour it into the emptied tomato sauce cans and do the same.  Get all the sauce out of all the cans, and dump it into the pot.

Stir all together over medium heat, until a few bubbles start to pop up.  Then reduce the heat to medium-low, so that it's just simmering, and not bubbling and splattering all over your stove top. :)

Okay, this is where it gets tricky to explain. Taste your sauce.  Is it bland?  Sometimes I have no idea how much salt I've added.  So at this point I take stock. If it tastes bland, I start adding salt. Or better yet, GARLIC SALT.  But if you feel it's already garlicky enough for you, juts use regular salt.  Other times, I might use onion salt.  I have these on hand at ALL times, lol.  Anyhow, the point is... tomato sauce is very, very acidic and is terrible if not salted sufficiently.  So make sure you are checking all along the way.

After you've got it to a point where you think it's salted and flavored enough, just cover it, put it on low, and let it simmer.

Step 2:  Bechamel

Right off, let me say it. You have to stir this constantly or it will burn on the bottom.  In a small pot over medium heat, you add together:

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter
4 tablespoons of flour
2 cups of milk
pinch of salt
*you can add a dash of pepper, and sometimes I do
*you can add some nutmeg, but I usually don't

Whisk constantly and get all the flour lumps out.  It's just like packet gravy.  Let it come just to a boil, then remove.  Set aside.

Step 3:  Prepare the Cheese!

Hail to the cheese!  I have some cheese-less lasagne recipes, and they are very good. But man, nothing to me is as good as a cheese-loaded lasagne. You can be creative here.  I don't always do it the same way.  I use two or all three of the following choices:

Mozzarella (shredded is fine, or sometimes I will use fresh and slice it into thin medallions)
Provolone (usually comes in circles, which I slice into strips)
Ricotta (not cottage cheese)

You can use other cheeses, these are just the ones that I find work best. And you can even do the whole dish using only one kind of cheese, that is fine.  I like to at least use two, for variety, and all three is even better, but there are lots of times when I just don't have it on hand and I just use mozzarella. Whatever you choose, just have it prepared. Shred it, slice it, open the package, etc.  Have it ready and handy!

Step 4:  The Noodles (unless you are just making Lasagna, then it's "The Noodle")

Fill a big pot with water and add lots and lots of salt.  Sometimes, in order to prevent sticking later on, I'll add a teaspoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil.  Add 2 boxes of lasagne noodles.  Try not to break them, okay?  Stir them continually with a long wooden spoon to keep them from sticking together.  Do NOT over cook. Please, please, please.  I know I said I wasn't a food snob, and I'm not, but this is one of my few pet peeves. Soggy noodles are a no-no. Try to keep them Al Dente, which literally translated in Italian means "to the tooth"...so you can actually bite this pasta, not just chew it.  With pastas that are Al Forno (or "to the oven" or baked) it is especially important that you leave your pasta al dente, because it is being cooked twice.

When your lasagne are cooked through but still have a firm center, drain them and RINSE with cool water. I know I keep saying it, but you do not want these noodles to stick, believe me. :)

Step 5:  TIME TO LAYER!

Take a ladle-full of the sugo and spread it across the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.  This is to prevent sticking.

Now, lay a single-noodle layer of lasagne covering the entire bottom of the pan. I will overlap the noodles a little bit on this first layer, to make a strong solid base to build upon. Obviously, you're going to have to use your geometry skills here and make some adjustments, because they don't fit perfectly.  Some noodles can be cut to fit, but don't eat the left-over broken pieces!  You will use them later on other layers. :)

Next, on top of the noodle layer, you spread another small ladle-full of sugo.  Mmmmm.  Don't add too much, though...you don't want it to be soupy.

Now pick a cheese, probably the mozzarella, and sprinkle it (or place it, if you are using sliced fresh pieces) all over and make a nice thick layer.

Go again!  Noodles, sauce, cheese. Alternate your cheeses.  I usually use the ricotta near the top, but not the very top.

Remember your Bechamel? Make sure as you are layering, that you are drizzling some of your Bechamel sauce along the edges of the pasta noodles.  Especially in the corners where the pasta tends to get dry during baking. Again, don't POUR it on, you're not making soup. Just take your spoon and drizzle some spoonfuls here and there on the noodles.

Keep layering until you reach the top of your pan.  Don't overload.  End with cheese.  Lots and lots of mozzarella cheese.  Add Bechamel one more times to the corners of the pan and along any edges of noodles that are sticking out, or else they will dry out.

You will likely have leftovers of everything.  Just get a smaller pan and make a mini-lasagne with what you can pull together.  You can freeze this for later or eat it now.  Either way. 

Bake at 350 degrees for about half hour, and sometimes I will increase the temp to 400 and let it bake another 5 - 10 minutes to really melt that top layer of cheese.  It depends.  Just eye-ball it, as usual.

Let it sit for at least ten minutes or more before you slice it.  Otherwise it will collapse and be a big mess. 

Once it's cooled enough, dig in and ENJOY!

If you don't want to bake your lasagne right away, that's okay.  You can cover it and put it in the fridge for a day or two, or even freeze it and save it for a rainy day.  If you freeze it, just take it out either the night before or in the morning and let it thaw before baking.  It will still be awesome.

So there you go!  Nothing groundbreaking, right?  You probably all are thinking, "This is the great Italian recipe?" Well, all I know is that I love it and my family loves it, and I hope yours will too.

Let me know if you try this and how it turns out!  I really want to know.  Good luck!