mariadnoca
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Ruth's Lasagne
Gail's Recipe Swap
Forum Home Page: Archive Swap 1601-1700 (1638.5.2.1)
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 19:27:04 GMT
From: Ruth
No recipe but here are the basics...
Sorry Richard, I've never written this recipe down (and I'm always sure that if I do, it'll spoil the experience for me) but I KNOW you're a great cook so here's the madness of my method.....
This is an all-day process or a 2 day process (I take 2 days and hope there's enough sauce left to make lasagna......)
In a huge stockpot, using a very good quality olive oil ---- saute:
1 large chopped onion (or more if you like more)
3-4 chopped cloves of garlic (at least 2!)
Add 2 to 2-1/2 lbs mushrooms, quartered not sliced -- it Will make a difference for a shroom lover! (I use white button and cremini or whatever the farmers' market mushroom guy has that looks good).
Saute this mixture until it wilts (no need to cook completely now, it'll finish cooking in the sauce).
Meanwhile (in a separate pan), take 2 to 3 lbs of hot Italian sausage, remove it from its casings, crumble and 'fry' it. You need to make sure the sausage is completely cooked in this process, and, because I use hot sausage, I make sure it's crumbled in relatively small pieces. Drain the sausage and pat dry, set aside.
Note: the 'hot' flavor will dissipate in the sauce and amidst the cheese of the final lasagna -- but -- if you prefer, you can make this with half hot and half mild but it won't be the same smileys/wink.gif.
Now, to the mushroom onion mixture, add
2-3 16 ounce cans of roma tomatoes, crushed them between your fingers (hey! it's an elegant dish!)
- OR - 2-3 lbs of fresh roma tomatoes, large-diced.
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce,
a small handful of fresh basil or a few teaspoons dried,
freshly ground black pepper,
salt to taste,
1/2 teaspoon sugar,
red wine vinegar (I use balsamico and skip the sugar),
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes,
Fresh parsley -- and sometimes I use a mix of other herbs from my garden (marjoram, rosemary, whatever I have on hand).
Add the cooked sausage to the sauce. Cook this sauce until the majority of the 'water' is gone, and until the flavors have blended (about 1-1/2 hours on medium heat).
Note: if you need more moisture in the sauce, throw in some good red wine or water (you already have enough tomatoey stuff in the sauce). Taste and adjust the flavors throughout. Take off the heat and let the sauce temp come to lukewarm (or refrigerate it overnight).
To assemble the lasagna.... I gather:
2-1/2 to 3 lbs of fresh bufala mozzarella
2 lbs of medium cheddar or fresh ricotta (which I alter slightly with some fresh herbs) -- some of my family members hate ricotta, that's why I sometimes use the cheddar
1/3 lb romano
3/4 lb parmegiano reggiano (no substitutes!) and
2 lbs of fresh pasta dough (in sheets, if it's semolina dough I pre-boil, if it's flour dough I don't). Sometimes I make homemade spinach dough but there's an excellent Italian restaurant near me that makes fresh semolina pasta sheets daily (and if I ask nicely, he'll sell me some).
I layer the lasagna like you would any regular lasagna (a little sauce in the dish so it doesn't stick, a layer of noodles, a thick layer of sauce, the cheddar or ricotta, the bufala, the romano, the parmegiano, and repeat).
I bake the lasagna at 425, foil on, for about 1/2 hour, foil off for about 45 minutes or until completely heated through. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting. It's a bit sloppy the first time. Often, I prebake and then reheat for a party (it cuts easier).
This qualifies as a special occasion dish due to the price (from $50 to 80 depending on the ingredients I use). The mushroom prices fluctuate, several pounds of sausage isn't cheap - especially if I use Bruce Aidell's fabulous Italian sausage, the cheeses, especially the bufala and parmegiano send the price through the roof). But, everyone in my family requests it as their 'birthday' present --- and --- our neighbors smell it and come running...
Hope you can make sense of it! If not, I'll FedEx you some.... smileys/wink.gif
R.
Richard from Cincy: Notes on Ruth's la$agne
Posted: Mar 24, 2000 5:36 AM
I discussed this with Ruth and we both decided it was an improvement to the recipe and have incorporated this into making it:
* When assembling everything, add a pint of very rich beef stock to the pot before simmering.
It should be consomme strength (which means it should be the texture of aspic when it is cold).
* Also, it is absolutely imperative to use freshly made lasagne noodles (semolina and eggs) for this recipe, and to boil them before assembling. This makes all the difference in the finished product. If this recipe is adulterated with "no boil" or the store bought hard noodles, it is definitely not the same recipe and you will not have the incredible results that have made those trying the original swoon in delight. I've served this to people who have never had hand cranked lasagne noodles and they look at me in disbelief after the first bite. That's how much of a difference it makes.
* Also, no skimping on the cheese and sausage in either amounts or quality. There is only one parmegiano reggiano!
It is the sum of all these wonderful and special ingredients that make this dish what it is. If you haven't spent at least $50-60 assembling the ingredients, you don't have it right ; ) Also, both Ruth and I have found that a 3- day process works best.
1. Sauce production one day.
2. Pasta making, assembly, and first baking on the second day, and finally
3. a reheating on the third day.
If you bake the day before, the lasange flavors are much more intense and comfortable with each other and the lasagne holds together very nicely! ** And if you really want to stretch it out, you can add a preliminary prelude day: make your stock if you don't have rich consomme in the freezer. Have fun, the results are worth it.
Gail's Recipe Swap
Forum Home Page: Archive Swap 1601-1700 (1638.5.2.1)
Date: Mon, 05 Feb 1996 19:27:04 GMT
From: Ruth
No recipe but here are the basics...
Sorry Richard, I've never written this recipe down (and I'm always sure that if I do, it'll spoil the experience for me) but I KNOW you're a great cook so here's the madness of my method.....
This is an all-day process or a 2 day process (I take 2 days and hope there's enough sauce left to make lasagna......)
In a huge stockpot, using a very good quality olive oil ---- saute:
1 large chopped onion (or more if you like more)
3-4 chopped cloves of garlic (at least 2!)
Add 2 to 2-1/2 lbs mushrooms, quartered not sliced -- it Will make a difference for a shroom lover! (I use white button and cremini or whatever the farmers' market mushroom guy has that looks good).
Saute this mixture until it wilts (no need to cook completely now, it'll finish cooking in the sauce).
Meanwhile (in a separate pan), take 2 to 3 lbs of hot Italian sausage, remove it from its casings, crumble and 'fry' it. You need to make sure the sausage is completely cooked in this process, and, because I use hot sausage, I make sure it's crumbled in relatively small pieces. Drain the sausage and pat dry, set aside.
Note: the 'hot' flavor will dissipate in the sauce and amidst the cheese of the final lasagna -- but -- if you prefer, you can make this with half hot and half mild but it won't be the same smileys/wink.gif.
Now, to the mushroom onion mixture, add
2-3 16 ounce cans of roma tomatoes, crushed them between your fingers (hey! it's an elegant dish!)
- OR - 2-3 lbs of fresh roma tomatoes, large-diced.
1 16 oz can of tomato sauce,
a small handful of fresh basil or a few teaspoons dried,
freshly ground black pepper,
salt to taste,
1/2 teaspoon sugar,
red wine vinegar (I use balsamico and skip the sugar),
1 to 1-1/2 teaspoons red pepper flakes,
Fresh parsley -- and sometimes I use a mix of other herbs from my garden (marjoram, rosemary, whatever I have on hand).
Add the cooked sausage to the sauce. Cook this sauce until the majority of the 'water' is gone, and until the flavors have blended (about 1-1/2 hours on medium heat).
Note: if you need more moisture in the sauce, throw in some good red wine or water (you already have enough tomatoey stuff in the sauce). Taste and adjust the flavors throughout. Take off the heat and let the sauce temp come to lukewarm (or refrigerate it overnight).
To assemble the lasagna.... I gather:
2-1/2 to 3 lbs of fresh bufala mozzarella
2 lbs of medium cheddar or fresh ricotta (which I alter slightly with some fresh herbs) -- some of my family members hate ricotta, that's why I sometimes use the cheddar
1/3 lb romano
3/4 lb parmegiano reggiano (no substitutes!) and
2 lbs of fresh pasta dough (in sheets, if it's semolina dough I pre-boil, if it's flour dough I don't). Sometimes I make homemade spinach dough but there's an excellent Italian restaurant near me that makes fresh semolina pasta sheets daily (and if I ask nicely, he'll sell me some).
I layer the lasagna like you would any regular lasagna (a little sauce in the dish so it doesn't stick, a layer of noodles, a thick layer of sauce, the cheddar or ricotta, the bufala, the romano, the parmegiano, and repeat).
I bake the lasagna at 425, foil on, for about 1/2 hour, foil off for about 45 minutes or until completely heated through. Let it rest for 15-20 minutes before cutting. It's a bit sloppy the first time. Often, I prebake and then reheat for a party (it cuts easier).
This qualifies as a special occasion dish due to the price (from $50 to 80 depending on the ingredients I use). The mushroom prices fluctuate, several pounds of sausage isn't cheap - especially if I use Bruce Aidell's fabulous Italian sausage, the cheeses, especially the bufala and parmegiano send the price through the roof). But, everyone in my family requests it as their 'birthday' present --- and --- our neighbors smell it and come running...
Hope you can make sense of it! If not, I'll FedEx you some.... smileys/wink.gif
R.
Richard from Cincy: Notes on Ruth's la$agne
Posted: Mar 24, 2000 5:36 AM
I discussed this with Ruth and we both decided it was an improvement to the recipe and have incorporated this into making it:
* When assembling everything, add a pint of very rich beef stock to the pot before simmering.
It should be consomme strength (which means it should be the texture of aspic when it is cold).
* Also, it is absolutely imperative to use freshly made lasagne noodles (semolina and eggs) for this recipe, and to boil them before assembling. This makes all the difference in the finished product. If this recipe is adulterated with "no boil" or the store bought hard noodles, it is definitely not the same recipe and you will not have the incredible results that have made those trying the original swoon in delight. I've served this to people who have never had hand cranked lasagne noodles and they look at me in disbelief after the first bite. That's how much of a difference it makes.
* Also, no skimping on the cheese and sausage in either amounts or quality. There is only one parmegiano reggiano!
It is the sum of all these wonderful and special ingredients that make this dish what it is. If you haven't spent at least $50-60 assembling the ingredients, you don't have it right ; ) Also, both Ruth and I have found that a 3- day process works best.
1. Sauce production one day.
2. Pasta making, assembly, and first baking on the second day, and finally
3. a reheating on the third day.
If you bake the day before, the lasange flavors are much more intense and comfortable with each other and the lasagne holds together very nicely! ** And if you really want to stretch it out, you can add a preliminary prelude day: make your stock if you don't have rich consomme in the freezer. Have fun, the results are worth it.