It might take a little more time to run pasta dough through a machine than to go to the market and buy a box of the ready-made kind, but there is nothing packed in a box that can lead to the flavor of the lasagne you can produce in your kitchen. Using clunky, store-bought lasagne may save a little time, but you will be sadly shortchanged by the results.
Baked Green Lasagne with Meat Sauce, Bolognese Style
For 6 servings
Bolognese Meat Sauce, the full amount
Béchamel Sauce, using 3 cups milk, 6 tablespoons butter, 4½ tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt
Homemade green pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 2 large eggs, ⅓ package frozen leaf spinach OR 6 ounces fresh spinach, salt, and approximately 1½ cups unbleached flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 tablespoons butter plus more for greasing a 9- by 12-inch bake-and-serve lasagne pan, no less than
2½ inches high ⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1. Prepare the meat sauce and set aside or, if using sauce you’ve previously frozen, thaw about 2½ cups, reheat gently and set aside.
2. Prepare the béchamel, keeping it rather runny, somewhat like sour cream. When done, keep it warm in the upper half of a double boiler, with the heat turned to very low. If a film should form on top, just stir it when you are ready to use it.
3. Make green pasta dough either by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Roll it out as thin as it will come by either method. If making the dough by machine, leave the strips as wide as they come from the rollers, and cut them into 10-inch lengths. If making it by hand, cut the pasta into rectangles 4½ inches wide and 10 inches long.
4. Set a bowl of cold water near the range, and lay some clean, dry cloth towels flat on a work counter. Bring 4 quarts of water to a rapid boil, add 1 tablespoon salt, and as the water returns to a boil, slip in 4 or 5 of the cut pasta strips. Cook very briefly, just seconds after the water returns to a boil after you dropped in the pasta. Retrieve the strips with a colander scoop or slotted spatula, and plunge them into the bowl of cold water. Pick up the strips, one at a time, rinse them under cold running water, and rub them delicately, as though you were doing fine hand laundry. Squeeze each strip very gently in your hands, then spread it flat on the towel to dry. When all the pasta is cooked in this manner, 4 or 5 strips at a time, and spread out to dry, pat it dry on top with another towel.
Explanatory note The washing, wringing, and drying of pasta for lasagne is something of a nuisance, but it is necessary. You first dip the partly cooked pasta into cold water to stop the cooking instantly. This is important because if lasagne pasta is not kept very firm at this stage it will become horribly mushy later when it is baked. And you must afterward rinse off the moist starch on its surface, or the dough will become glued to the towel on which it is laid out to dry, and tear when you are ready to use it.
5. Preheat the oven to 400°.
6. Thickly smear the bottom of a lasagne pan with butter and about 1 tablespoon of béchamel. Line the bottom of the pan with a single layer of pasta strips, cutting them to fit the pan, edge to edge, allowing no more than ¼ inch for overlapping.
7. Combine the meat sauce and the béchamel and spread a thin coating of it on the pasta. Sprinkle on some grated Parmesan, then add another layer of pasta, cutting it to fit as you did before. Repeat the procedure of spreading the sauce and béchamel mixture, then sprinkling with Parmesan. Use the trimmings of pasta dough to fill in gaps, if necessary. Build up to at least 6 layers of pasta. Leave yourself enough sauce to spread very thinly over the topmost layer. Sprinkle with Parmesan and dot with butter.
8. Bake on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven until a light, golden crust forms on top. It should take between 10 and 15 minutes. If after the first few minutes you don’t see any sign of a crust beginning to form, turn up the oven another 50° to 75°. Do not bake longer than 15 minutes altogether.
9. Remove from the oven and allow to settle for about 10 minutes, then serve at table directly from the pan.
Ahead-of-time note The lasagne may be completed up to 2 days in advance up to this point. Refrigerate under tightly sealing plastic wrap.
Lasagne with Mushrooms and Ham
For 6 servings
1½ pounds fresh, firm, white button mushrooms
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter plus more butter for greasing and dotting a 9- by 12-inch bake-and-serve lasagne pan, no less than 2½ inches high
⅓ cup onion chopped very fine
Two small packets OR 2 ounces dried porcini mushrooms, reconstituted
Filtered water from the mushroom soak
⅓ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, drained and chopped
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
¾ pound unsmoked boiled ham
Béchamel Sauce, using 2 cups milk, 4 tablespoons butter, 3 tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt
⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus additional cheese at the table
1. Rinse the fresh mushrooms rapidly under cold running water. Drain and wipe thoroughly dry with a soft cloth or paper towels. Cut them very thin in lengthwise slices, leaving the stems attached to the caps.
2. Choose a sauté pan that can subsequently accommodate all the fresh mushrooms without crowding. Put in the oil, the 3 tablespoons of butter, and the chopped onion, and turn the heat on to medium.
3. Cook, stirring, until the onion becomes translucent. Put in the reconstituted dried porcini, the filtered water from their soak, the chopped tomatoes, and the parsley. Stir thoroughly to coat all ingredients, set the cover on the pan slightly ajar, and turn the heat down to medium low.
4. When the liquid in the pan has completely evaporated, put in the sliced fresh mushrooms, salt, and a few grindings of pepper, and turn the heat up to high. Cook, uncovered, for 7 to 8 minutes until all the liquid thrown off by the fresh mushrooms has evaporated. Taste and correct for salt and pepper, stir, turn off the heat, and set aside.
5. Make yellow pasta dough either by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Following the instructions in the recipe for green lasagne, cut the dough into lasagne strips, parboil them, and spread them out to dry on cloth towels.
6. Preheat oven to 400°.
7. Cut the ham into very thin, julienne strips.
8. Make the béchamel sauce. When done, keep it warm in the upper half of a double boiler, with the heat turned to very low. If a film should form on top, just stir it when you are ready to use it.
9. Thickly smear the bottom of the lasagne pan with butter and a little bit of béchamel. Line the bottom with a single layer of pasta strips, cutting them to fit the pan, edge to edge, allowing no more than ¼ inch for overlapping.
10. Combine the mushrooms with all but 2 or 3 tablespoons of béchamel, then spread a thinly distributed layer of the mixture over the pasta. Scatter a few strips of ham over the sauce, then sprinkle with a little grated Parmesan. Cover with another pasta layer, cutting it to fit as you did before; use the trimmings of pasta dough to fill in gaps, if necessary. Repeat the sequence of mushroom and béchamel mixture, ham, and grated cheese. Continue building up layers of pasta and filling up to a minimum of 6 layers of pasta. Over the topmost layer spread only the remaining béchamel, sprinkle on the rest of the Parmesan, and dot with about 2 tablespoons of butter.
11. Bake on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven until a light, golden crust forms on top. It should take between 10 and 15 minutes. If after the first few minutes you don’t see any sign of a crust beginning to form, turn up the thermostat another 50° to 75°. Do not bake longer than 15 minutes altogether.
12. Remove from the oven and all
ow to settle for about 10 minutes, then serve at table directly from the pan, with grated Parmesan on the side.
Ahead-of-time note The lasagne may be completed up to 2 days in advance up to this point. Refrigerate under tightly sealing plastic wrap.
Lasagne with Artichokes
For 6 servings
4 to 5 medium artichokes
½ lemon
Salt
3 tablespoons butter plus more butter for greasing and dotting a 9- by 12-inch bake-and-serve lasagne pan, no less than 2½ inches high
Béchamel Sauce, using 2 cups milk, 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, 3 tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt
Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
⅔ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1. Trim the artichokes of all their tough parts. As you work, rub the cut artichokes with the lemon to keep them from turning black.
2. Cut each trimmed artichoke lengthwise into 4 equal sections. Remove the soft, curling leaves with prickly tips at the base, and cut away the fuzzy “choke” beneath them. Cut the artichoke sections lengthwise into the thinnest possible slices, and put them in a bowl with water mixed with the juice of the half lemon.
3. Drain the artichokes and rinse thoroughly in fresh water, then put them into a sauté pan with salt, the 3 tablespoons of butter and enough water to cover, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook at a gentle, but steady simmer until all the water has bubbled away and the artichokes have become lightly browned. Prod the artichokes with a fork. If not fully tender, add a little water and continue cooking a while longer, letting all the water evaporate. When the artichokes are done, turn the entire contents of the pan out into a bowl, and set aside.
4. Make the béchamel, keeping it at medium density, like thick cream. Set aside 4 or 5 tablespoons of it, and combine the rest with the artichokes in the bowl.
5. Make yellow pasta dough either by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Following the instructions in the recipe for green lasagne, cut the dough into lasagne strips, parboil them, and spread them out to dry on cloth towels.
6. Preheat oven to 400°.
7. Thickly smear the bottom of the lasagne pan with butter and a little bit of béchamel. Line the bottom with a single layer of pasta strips, cutting them to fit the pan, edge to edge, allowing no more than ¼ inch for overlapping.
8. Over the pasta spread a thin, even coating of the artichoke and béchamel mixture, and top with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan. Cover with another pasta layer, cutting it to fit as you did before; use the trimmings of pasta dough to fill in gaps, if necessary. Continue to alternate layers of pasta with coatings of béchamel and artichoke, always sprinkling with cheese before covering with a new layer of dough. Do not build up fewer than 6 layers of pasta.
9. Over the top layer spread the 4 or 5 tablespoons of béchamel you had set aside. Dot with butter, and sprinkle with the remaining grated Parmesan.
10. Bake on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven until a light, golden crust forms on top. It should take between 10 and 15 minutes. If after the first few minutes you don’t see any sign of a crust beginning to form, turn up the thermostat another 50° to 75°. Do not bake longer than 15 minutes altogether.
11. Remove from the oven and allow to settle for about 10 minutes, then serve at table directly from the pan, with grated Parmesan on the side.
Ahead-of-time note You can prepare the artichokes up to this point several hours in advance.
Ahead-of-time note The lasagne may be completed up to a day in advance up to this point. Refrigerate under tightly sealing plastic wrap.
Lasagne with Ricotta Pesto
ON THE Italian Riviera they make a flat pasta that is much broader than the broadest noodles, but a little smaller than the classic lasagne of Bologna. Unlike Bolognese lasagne, it is only boiled, rather than blanched and baked. In the Genoese dialect it is called piccagge, which means napkin or dish cloth. Piccagge is almost invariably served with ricotta pesto, making it one of the lightest and freshest pasta dishes for summer.
For 6 servings
Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
Pesto with Ricotta
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese at the table
1. Make yellow pasta dough either by the machine method, or by the hand-rolled method. Cut the dough into rectangular strips about 3½ inches wide and 5 inches long. Spread them out on a counter lined with clean, dry, cloth towels.
2. Make the ricotta pesto.
3. Bring 4 to 5 quarts water to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons salt and 1 tablespoon olive oil. As the water returns to a boil, put in half the pasta. (It’s not advisable to put it all in at one time, because the broad strips may stick to each other.)
4. As soon as the first batch of pasta is done al dente, retrieve it with a colander spoon or skimmer, and spread it out on a warm serving platter. Take a spoonful of hot water from the pasta pot and use it to thin out the pesto. Spread half the pesto over the pasta in the platter.
5. Drop the remaining pasta into the pot, drain it when done, spread it on the platter over the previous layer of pasta, cover with the remaining pesto, and serve at once with grated Parmesan on the side.
Note If the pasta is very fresh, you can cook it in two batches as suggested above, because it will cook so quickly that the first batch will not have had time to get cold by the time the second batch is done. If it is on the dry side, it will take longer to cook, so you must do the two batches simultaneously in two separate pots.
Cannelloni with Meat Stuffing
THOSE SOFT, rolled up bundles of pasta, meat, and cheese called cannelloni are one of the most graceful and pleasing ways to use homemade pasta dough. It’s not the least bit difficult to do, and the result can be invariably successful if one bears in mind a single basic principle. Do not think of cannelloni as a tube enclosing a single sausage-like lump of stuffing. Before rolling up the pasta, the stuffing mixture should be spread over it in a filmy, adherent layer not much thicker than the pasta itself. Then the dough is rolled up jelly-roll fashion with the filling evenly distributed throughout.
For 6 servings
Béchamel Sauce, using 2 cups milk, 4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, 3 tablespoons flour, and ¼ teaspoon salt
FOR THE FILLING
1 tablespoon butter
1½ tablespoons onion chopped fine
6 ounces ground beef chuck
Salt
½ cup chopped unsmoked boiled ham
1 egg yolk
Whole nutmeg
1½ cups freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1¼ cups fresh ricotta
FOR THE SAUCE
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon onion chopped fine
6 ounces ground beef chuck
Salt
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, chopped, with their juice
FOR THE PASTA
Homemade yellow pasta dough, made by the machine method, OR by the hand-rolled method, using 3 large eggs and approximately 1⅔ cups unbleached flour
Salt
A rectangular, 9- by 13-inch bake-and-serve dish
⅓ cup freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
3 tablespoons butter, plus more for smearing
1. Prepare the béchamel sauce, making it rather thin, the consistency of sour cream. When done, keep it warm in the upper half of a double boiler, with the heat turned to very low. Stir it just before using.
2. To make the filling: Put the tablespoon of butter and chopped onion in a small sauté pan, turn on the heat to medium, and cook the onion until it becomes translucent. Add the ground beef. Turn the heat down to medium low, crumble the
meat with a fork, and cook it without letting it brown. After it loses its raw, red color, cook for 1 more minute, stirring two or three times.
3. Transfer the meat to a mixing bowl, using a slotted spoon so as to leave all the melted fat in the pan. Add one or two pinches of salt, the chopped ham, the egg yolk, a tiny grating—about ⅛ teaspoon—of nutmeg, the grated Parmesan, the ricotta, and ¼ cup of the béchamel sauce. Mix with a fork until all ingredients are evenly combined. Taste and correct for salt.
4. To make the sauce: Put the 2 tablespoons butter and the chopped onion in a saucepan, turn on the heat to medium, and cook the onion until it becomes colored a pale gold. Add the meat, crumbling it with a fork. Turn the heat down to medium low, cook the meat until it loses its raw color, add salt, and the chopped tomatoes with their juice, and adjust the heat so that the sauce cooks at the slowest of simmers. Cook for 45 minutes, stirring from time to time. Taste and correct for salt.
5. To make the pasta: Prepare the yellow pasta dough by machine, or by hand, rolling it out as thin as it will come by either method. Cut the pasta into rectangles 3 inches by 4 inches.
6. Bring water to a boil. On a nearby work counter, spread clean, dry, cloth towels. Set a bowl of cold water not too far from the stove. Following the instructions in the recipe for green lasagne, parboil, rinse, and spread the pasta strips on the cloth towels.
7. Preheat the oven to 400°.
8. Thickly butter the bottom of the baking dish.
9. To make the cannelloni: Spread 1 tablespoon of béchamel sauce on a dinner plate. Place one of the pasta strips over the béchamel, rotating it to coat all its underside. On the pasta’s top side, spread about a tablespoon of filling, enough to cover thinly, but leaving an exposed ½-inch border all around. Roll up the pasta softly, jelly-roll fashion, starting from its narrower side. Place the roll in the pan, its overlapping edge facing down. Proceed until you have used up all the pasta or all the filling. From time to time spread more béchamel on the bottom of the dinner plate, but keep some in reserve. It’s all right to fit the cannelloni tightly into the baking dish, but do not overlap them.
Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking Page 25