Lasagna is a favorite food of many people and can be easy to do. Before you start making your lasagna, you must decide what kind of lasagna you want to do. Is Lasagna Bolognese (meat sauce), vegetarian lasagna, lasagna with mushrooms or sea seafood lasagna? Once this decision the next step is to make a list of the ingredients you need. Before leaving the market, ask your grocery store products at home. You will be surprised what you can find.
Do you use dry pasta, fresh pasta, pasta locally manufactured or imported pasta ? It
is important to use a good quality for the lasagna not only tastes
good, but will continue after it is cooked and when served. Fresh pasta can be purchased at your local Italian deli shop. The advantage of buying fresh pasta is that you can buy in large sheets, so it is easier to assemble your lasagna. If you buy dried lasagna, be sure to follow the cooking instructions on the package. If you buy fresh lasagna only cook 1-2 minutes or not at all if you use a generous amount of sauce to assemble your lasagna.
Then decide the type of sauce that you will use. You can use your favorite pasta sauce or you can buy the sauce ready for use in the home market or local Italian grocery. For a 9 x 12 pan of lasagna you want to have at least a quarter or more sauce. My favorite is the mushroom sauce that has several varieties of mushrooms.
Other ingredients you will need at least one book of mozzarella cheese, ricotta cheese a book and a little grated parmesan. To make it easier to shred the mozzarella, place it in the freezer for half an hour before grinding. To
make the ricotta easy to spread on the ground, first make a bechamel (cream sauce environment) and combine with the ricotta. A
cup of cream sauce made with 2 tablespoons of butter and flour and a
cup of milk should be sufficient to combine with a pound of ricotta
cheese. Season to taste with salt and white pepper.
After cooking the pasta and drain, place in a plastic bag in a single layer so that the pieces do not stick. Prepare your lasagna pan by greasing lightly with a small amount of olive oil. Gather all the ingredients that are on hand from the pan and place assembly. To prepare the lasagna make sure you have everything prepared and presented for the first time :
- Oiled lasagna pan or 9 x 12 baking dish.
- Cooked and separated lasagna noodles.
- One quart or more of your favorite Sauce.
- One pound or more of shredded mozzarella.
- Ricotta combined with a bechamel sauce.
- Parmesan Cheese.
Assemble the lasagna in the following manner:
- Place a layer of pasta lengthwise in the baking dish.
- Spread a thin layer of the ricotta/béchamel mixture over the pasta.
- Add a thin layer of sauce and some Parmesan over the sauce.
- Add a layer of mozzarella over that.
- Place a layer of pasta crosswise over the mozzarella layer. (This will make it easier to cut and serve the lasagna).
- Repeat the layering process as you did with the first layer of pasta.
- For the third layer, place the noodles lengthwise again. Mozzarella should be the last item on your lasagna.
Once the lasagna is assembled, you can refrigerate or freeze until ready to use or can be cooked immediately. To
cook the lasagna immediately, place it in the center of a 350 degree
oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until the dish is heated through
and cheese on top is melted and bubbly and just starting to show little color.
Lasagna frozen should be thawed before cooking, but if you plan to cook frozen not put the last layer of mozzarella on top . Instead, cover the dish with foil and place on the middle shelf of a cold oven. Then turn the oven to 350 degrees. If you use a ceramic plate, placing it in a cold oven to avoid breakage. Place
a cold dish in a hot oven and cause too quickly to shrink and break ,
destroying all their work in making the lasagna and the creation of a
large and potentially dangerous disorder in the oven clean. Once thawed lasagna and almost warm enough to serve, then you can add the top layer of mozzarella cheese.
Lasagna
refrigerated should also be placed in a cold oven and frozen lasagna,
lasagna more than refrigerated lasagna just ended, but not as much as
frozen lasagna. Just make sure your lasagna is heated through and cheese on top is melted and bubbly.
To serve, cut the lasagna into squares and remove with a spatula lasagna (short, squat spatula). Serve with additional sauce on the side and a fresh green salad with Italian dressing and warm bread or garlic bread.
If
you have a pumpkin or other vegetables in the refrigerator, they can
be cut, sauteed in olive oil with some fresh basil and garlic added to
your lasagna during the lamination process. Lasagna can be easy to make and delicious to eat. Try your hand at it and then try their own variations. You will be surprised what you can come up with! Have fun!
