Last week for staff meal at Chefsteps we decided to cook up some good old Italian comfort food.
Here's how it went down... (keep in mind this is a large scale recipe that easily feeds 10-15 hungry people).
Pasta
We started by rolling out a few batches of our fresh pasta dough and reserving it in the fridge for later assembly.
And trust us, it's well worth the time to make your own.
Ricotta filling:
Ricotta 1,400g
Spinach, blanched 950g
Whole Egg 150g
We blanched the spinach and combined it with the ricotta in a food processor, blending until homogenous.
Then added the eggs and pulsing to just combine.
The eggs will help bind together the lasagna once baked.
Meat:
2,800g Pork Sausage
We went up to Don and Joe's butchery in the pike place market for our ground pork sausage.
For this step you can use any kind of meat you'd like, or even substitute meat for sautéed eggplant and/or mushrooms.
If using ground meat simply saute it in a pan with olive oil until cooked, and reserve for later.
Tomato Sauce:
1 whole sweet onion diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
340g Tomato paste
260g Harissa
4 cans (28oz each) Crushed San Marzano Tomatoes
22g Salt
13g MSG (optional, but delicious)
3g Black pepper, ground
150g Basil
Slowly sweat the garlic and onions until translucent and very fragrant, without developing any color. 4-5 minutes.
Add tomato paste and Harissa and continue to cook for another 3-4 minutes on medium/low heat.
Add salt, MSG, and pepper and stir into mixture.
Finally add your canned tomatoes and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes, string regularly to avoid scorching.
To finish the sauce transfer everything to a food processor and pulse with the Basil for 1 minute until basil is fully incorporated and all large chunks have disappeared.
Alternatively you can use a stick blender.
Assembly
a/n Mozzarella cheese, shredded
For the baking vessel we used a large Le Creuset, but you can use anything from individual ramekins, to a metal loaf pan, or any other baking pan you have laying around.
On the bottom of the pan apply a nice layer of olive oil to prevent the noodle sheets from sticking.
For our lasagna we layered it (in order): Pasta, Ricotta, Sauce, Meat, Mozzarella, Pasta.
Three to four layers is ideal.
The final top layer should be all mozzarella.
(With the leftover supplies and sauce you can bake little individual lasagnas in small loaf pans)
Bake time
We baked our lasagna covered at 325˚f for 1 hour and 30 min.
Then uncovered at 400˚f for 10 minutes (or until browned).
This time will differ oven to oven, and depend mostly on the shape and size of the lasagna you are making.
A very basic way to tell if your lasagna is done cooking is to insert a knife or probe into the middle and take it out and feel if it is hot. Since the meat is already cooked we are really just looking to get the lasagna hot all the way through.
You should also see oil and fat bubbling up around the sides of the baking dish, and the cheese should start to brown and caramelize around the edges.
Once the lasagna has cooked through, uncover it and crank the oven temperature up to brown the cheese on top.
Garlic bread: The Bonus Track
Garlic 137g
Rosemary, picked 8g
Butter, cubed 370g
Parmesan, grated a/n
French Baguette, or loaf of choice
In a food processor mix together the garlic, rosemary, and salt.
Blend until there are no large chunks of rosemary and everything is finely minced.
This will require you to scrape down the sides of the mixer a few times to assure everything is properly incorporated.
Add the cubed butter to the mixer and pulse for 1-2 minutes until everything is fully incorporated and the mixture is homogenous. Spread the garlic butter on the open face of a halved baguette or other loaf of bread.
Sandwich together the two open halves, with the butter sides facing each other.
(We sandwich the bread together like this so that the outside crust becomes crispy, while the buttered inside steams and becomes soft and melty).
Wrap the buttered baguettes in aluminum foil and bake in a 325˚f oven for 10 minutes, or until hot throughout.
Then Enjoy!
Make this Lasagna for yourself at home and let us know how it turns out!
Post pictures tell us how it went down.
Cheers!
