The March 2009 challenge is hosted by Mary of Beans and Caviar, Melinda of Melbourne Larder and Enza of Io Da Grande. They have chosen Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna from The Splendid Table by Lynne Rossetto Kasper as the challenge.
This is my second month belonging to an adventurous and enthusiastic group of bakers called The Daring Bakers. After a rather simple first challenge I was thoroughly excited about this month's recipe. It is a very different baking project, in fact it was one many of us wouldn't think of as in the category of "baking".
This group of bakers has a varied repertoire and that is one of the reasons I decided to join. I love to have an excuse to make new things, perhaps recipes I've always wanted to try but never got around to, or just a way to learn about a certain style of baking. While I've never been shy about daunting baking projects, the moral support of fellow Daring Bakers and plenty of people to offer tips and experiences makes it a fun affair. This month's challenge was a lasagne. Not just any lasagne though. A meat based lasagne with homemade spinach pasta. Well this was all new to me. Glad I'd signed up when I did!
I'd been feeling the desire to try my hand at handmade pasta for a while now. Until recently I've been satisfied with my sources of fresh made pasta, but I've been starting to see the advantages of making your own. The chance to be creative with flavourings and fillings is a great way to stay inspired in the kitchen.
Making your own pasta also saves money (pasta is relatively cheap to make) and allows you to enjoy a truly artisanal product. After all the homemade product is a world away from anything you can buy. And its so easy! A few weeks ago my friend Ruth must have read my mind because she suggested we both tackle some handmade ravioli. Perfect! A great way to get some practice in before the big challenge. After an extremely successful, not to mention delicious, butternut squash sage ravioli I was smitten with making pasta and ready to tackle more.
But there's another "first" in this project for me. While I've made many a vegetable based lasagne over the years- ricotta and spinach, mushroom and cream, my favourite butternut squash and bechamel. But I've never made a meat lasagna in my life. Shocked? Well, many of you who know me will know that I was a vegetarian for over 10 years and I have a genuine love for vegetables in general, so the vegetable version is what I usually gravitate to first. But while I gave up calling myself vegetarian a couple years ago (the duck did it, sorry), I still prefer most vegetarian alternatives (except duck). Since I'm still learning my way through the art of cooking meat, I figured trying my hand at a classic Ragu would be great practice. So I marched down to the butcher, ordered up the necessary animal parts (from three different types of animal!), got my hands dirty and didn't even cringe at the blood. Yay to my carnivorous self! My inner vegetarian stayed out of sight, shivering at the thought of it. After a couple hours of preparation and cooking, I'd made my first Ragu, and it was surprisingly light, with plenty of complex flavours. Not at all like the ground beef tomato sauce of my childhood. I was pleased.
The spinach pasta was a cinch to make, full of bright green flecks of green. I rolled them, therapeutically, through my borrowed pasta roller until they were paper thin, cooked them with only a brief panic attack as the slippery, delicate, emerald noodles refused to stay in my hands or lay flat in the pan. But once I understood that these beautiful noodles needed a different treatment than the commercially available noodles I normally use, within a short time I had 4 thin layers of ragu, creamy bechamel, delicate thin pasta and a kiss of parmigianno regiano.
The end result is a perfect marriage of flavours that all complement themselves without taking away from each other. I loved the thin layers of each component, how simple it seemed. This lasagne is classic of the Emila-Romagna region of north western Italy. You won't find mozzarella in this because this is home to the famous Parmigianno Regiano and also a region famous for slow cooked meat sauces. This is comfort food at its best and with the arrival of daffodils and cherry blossoms on Canada's west coast, this is perhaps the last of the hearty winter comfort foods we crave so much during the last few months. So go now and make this fabulous lasagne as a farewell to winter.
Lasagne of Emilia-Romagna
Recipe below from The Splendid Table: Recipes from
Emilia-Romagna, Lynne
Rossetto Kasper
(Serves 8 to 10 as a first course, 6 to 8 as a main dish)
1 recipe Spinach Pasta cut for lasagna, or several pieces of cooked dried noodles
1 recipe Bechamel Sauce
1 recipe Country Style Ragu
1 cup (4 ounces/125g) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
Assembling the Ingredients:
Have all the sauces, rewarmed gently over a medium heat, and the pasta
at hand. Have a large perforated skimmer and a large bowl of cold water
next to the stove. Spread a double thickness of paper towels over a
large counter space. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (180
degrees Celsius). Oil or butter a 3 quart (approx 3 litre) shallow
baking dish.
Cooking the Pasta:
Bring the salted water to a boil. Drop about four pieces of pasta in
the water at a time. Cook about 2 minutes. If you are using dried
pasta, cook about 4 minutes, taste, and cook longer if necessary. The
pasta will continue cooking during baking, so make sure it is only
barely tender. Lift the lasagne from the water with a skimmer, drain,
and then slip into the bowl of cold water to stop cooking. When cool,
lift out and dry on the paper towels. .
Assembling the Lasagne:
Spread a thin layer of béchamel over the bottom of the baking dish.
Arrange a layer of about four overlapping sheets of pasta over the
béchamel. Spread a thin layer of béchamel (about 3 or 4 spoonfuls) over
the pasta, and then an equally thin layer of the ragu. Sprinkle with
about 1&1/2 tablespoons of the béchamel and about 1/3 cup of the
cheese. Repeat the layers until all ingredients are used, finishing
with béchamel sauce and topping with a generous dusting of cheese.
Baking and Serving the Lasagne:
Cover the baking dish lightly with foil, taking care not to let it
touch the top of the lasagne. Bake 40 minutes, or until almost heated
through. Remove the foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until hot in
the center. Take care not to brown the cheese topping. It should be
melted, creamy looking and barely tinged with a little gold. Turn off
the oven, leave the door ajar and let the lasagne rest for about 10
minutes.
Spinach Egg Pasta
2 eggs
10 ounces (300g) fresh spinach, steamed until just wilted, and finely chopped, squeezed dry and some of the liquid reserved
3&1/2 cups (14 ounces/400g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour (organic stone ground preferred)
Mixing the dough:
Mound the flour and make a well in
the middle. Add the eggs and spinach. Beat
together the eggs and spinach. Then gradually start incorporating
shallow scrapings of flour from the sides of the well into the liquid.
As you work more and more flour into the liquid, the well’s sides may
collapse. Use a pastry scraper to keep the liquids from running off and
to incorporate the last bits of flour into the dough. Don’t worry if it
looks like a hopelessly rough and messy lump.
Kneading:
With the aid of the scraper to scoop up unruly pieces, start kneading
the dough. Once it becomes a cohesive mass, use the scraper to remove
any bits of hard flour on the work surface – these will make the dough
lumpy. Knead the dough for about 3 minutes. Its consistency should be
elastic and a little sticky. If it is too sticky to move easily, knead
in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes,
or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will
feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough
in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3
hours.
If it is too sticky to move easily, knead in a few more tablespoons of flour. Continue kneading about 10 minutes, or until the dough has become satiny, smooth, and very elastic. It will feel alive under your hands. Do not shortcut this step. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and let it relax at room temperature 30 minutes to 3 hours.
Using a pasta roller, cut off a piece of dough , pat it into a rectangle about the width of the machine. Pass it through each thickness on the machine, two times per setting. Dust regularly with flour if its sticking.
Dry the pasta at room temperature and store in a sealed container or bag.
Bechamel
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60g) unsalted butter
4 tablespoons (2 ounces/60g) all purpose unbleached (plain) flour, organic stone ground preferred
2&2/3 cups (approx 570ml) milk
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Freshly grated nutmeg to taste
Using a medium-sized saucepan, melt the butter over low to medium heat. Sift over the flour, whisk until smooth, and then stir (without stopping) for about 3 minutes. Whisk in the milk a little at a time and keep the mixture smooth. Bring to a slow simmer, and stir 3 to 4 minutes, or until the sauce thickens. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Season with salt, pepper, and a hint of nutmeg.
Country Style Ragu
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (45 mL)
2 ounces/60g pancetta, finely chopped
1 medium onion, minced
1 medium stalk celery with leaves, minced
1 small carrot, minced
4 ounces/125g boneless veal shoulder
4 ounces/125g mild Italian sausage
8 ounces/250g beef skirt steak
1 ounce/30g thinly sliced Prosciutto di Parma
2/3 cup (5 ounces/160ml) dry red wine
1 &1/2 cups (12 ounces/375ml) chicken
2 cups (16 ounces/500ml) milk
3 canned plum tomatoes, drained
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a 12 inch (30cm) skillet (frying pan) over
medium-high heat. Have a large saucepan handy to use once browning is
complete. Add the pancetta and minced vegetables and sauté, stirring
frequently with a wooden spoon, 10 minutes, or until the onions barely
begin to color. Coarsely grind all the meats together, including the
prosciutto, in a food processor or meat grinder. Stir into the pan and
slowly brown over medium heat. First the meats will give off a liquid
and turn dull grey but, as the liquid evaporates, browning will begin.
Stir often, scooping under the meats with the wooden spatula. Protect
the brown glaze forming on the bottom of the pan by turning the heat
down. Cook 15 minutes, or until the meats are a deep brown.
Add the wine to the skillet, lowering the heat so the sauce bubbles quietly. Stir occasionally until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Scrape up the brown glaze as the wine bubbles.
Stir ½ cup stock into the saucepan and let it bubble slowly, 10 minutes, or until totally evaporated. Repeat with another ½ cup stock. Stir in the last 1/2 cup stock along with the milk. Adjust heat so the liquid bubbles very slowly. Partially cover the pot, and cook 1 hour. Stir frequently to check for sticking.
Add the tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pot. Cook uncovered, at a very slow bubble for another 45 minutes, or until the sauce resembles a thick, meaty stew. Season with salt and pepper.
