OK, so this is entirely unrelated to the music industry, but cooking is something I do when I’m taking a break from music. It helps stimulate the creative juices. And who doesn’t love lasagna? It’s relatively inexpensive to make, tastes great, and can be put into containers or frozen to eat later. Lasagna rules. Here’s how to make it.
You need…
1. Lasagna noodles. No other noodles will suffice! You can get fancy homemade noodles from a farmer’s market, but store-bought ones will work just as well. Check out this 9oz box from Barilla.
2. At a minimum, ricotta and mozzarella cheese. How much you use depends on how cheesy you want your lasagna, but at least a cup of ricotta is definitely recommended. You can also add parmesan cheese as well - if you can afford it, get the kind that comes in actual blocks, not the cheapo Kraft stuff.
3. A jar of marinara sauce. Sure, you can make your own sauce, but we’re trying to keep this simple. Emeril’s Homestyle Marinara is absolutely great, if you can find it.
4. About a pound of ground beef and/or various veggies like spinach and mushrooms. This is optional, but the filling is what makes lasagna so good.
5. A 13×9″ baking pan, or something around that size.
How to Prepare
1. Start by boiling a large pot of water and putting in between 6 and 9 noodles. Generally speaking, you will be laying the noodles down lengthwise along the pan. 3 noodles stacked side by side should cover the whole thing, and you’ll want at least two layers, so 6 noodles is a good minimum. Of course, you can always have more. Remember when you put in your pasta to add some salt!
2. In a saucepan, heat up some vegetable oil (canola or safflower, preferably.) If you want to be fancy, throw in some chopped onion pieces and brown them for some extra flavor. Then, add your beef, if you have any. If you don’t, you can either sauté the veggies in that pan or steam them elsewhere. Remember to drain excess fat and oil as you go along.
3. Once the beef/veggies are almost done, dump the jar of marinara into the pan. It might seem like a lot, but you’ll need it. At this point, add various spices until you like the taste of the sauce. The flavor is up to you. I like adding garlic, basil and oregano. You can find “Italian Seasoning” or “Pasta Seasoning” in the spice section of most supermarkets, and these will really help. You can continue to thicken the sauce over low to medium heat if you prefer a different consistency.
4. By the time the sauce is ready, the noodles probably will be as well. Strain and rinse them (you don’t want the excess starch!) then get out your baking pan. Start preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Pour a thin layer of sauce to cover the bottom of the pan. Next, lay down three noodles in the method mentioned earlier. The noodles should almost entirely cover the pan, leaving little sauce showing.
5. Layer another thin spread of sauce on top of the noodles, followed by spoonfuls of ricotta cheese. You can spread the ricotta with a spoon or your fingers. Add as much of this cheese as you like, but it doesn’t need to literally cover the whole pan. You’ll want some grated mozzarella and parmesan next. This part really isn’t a precise science; just add as much as you’d like. You’ll be doing this at least one more time though, so don’t waste any.
6. Lay down three more noodles, followed by more sauce, ricotta and other cheeses. You can do this step as much as you want to make really thick lasagna, but keep the same order of ingredients, ending with the mozzarella and parmesan on top. I’ve seen the order vary from site to site. Some people say you should go noodles -> mozz -> sauce -> parm, but it doesn’t really matter. The advantage of doing it my way is that the noodles are always touching a layer of sauce. If you use the other order, the noodles are sandwiched between layers of cheese, which doesn’t sound as appealing to me.
7. Put the pan in the oven and bake at 350 degrees and until the cheese on top starts to become golden brown. This should be about 15-20 minutes. Once it’s done, take it out and enjoy! Your home-cooked meal should last you at least a few days.
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Have you been reading this post but not making the recipe? If so, you should be making it and not reading. Well, reading while making it. Anyway, here’s a picture of some lasagna.
