Looking for Lasagne

I love Italian food. I am always on the lookout for a good lasagna. I grew up on Long Island, New York, where good pizza and good Italian food are readily available. In fact, in my home town is Christiano's, made famous by one of Long Island's treasures, Billy Joel, who wrote "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant," in part because he had spent a fair amount of time there. They have really good lasagna. With meat, none of this spinach / veggie crap lasagna that is permeating our culinary adventures.

When I move to Washington and the future Mrs. Brave Astronaut and I began to plan our wedding, we settled on this place. Sure, it's a chain, but God, the food is good and plentiful. I always had leftover lasagna for lunch the next day. Perhaps someday I'll recount the day in greater detail, if for no other reason than to talk about our wedding "cake."

In March, new Cheverly resident Scott, wrote on his blog about his weekend plans, which included lasagna. He had originally posted the recipe on his blog in 2006, which I reprint here.

Drop-Dead Lasagna
from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Time: 2 1/2 hours
Serves 12

• 1 lb lasagna noodles
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 Onion, diced
• 3 Garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 TB fennel seeds
• 1/2 TB red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 1/2 TB dried oregano
• 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
• Salt/Pepper
• 2 lb ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 2 eggs, slightly beaten
• 2 lbs shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 cups Marinara Sauce (see recipe below)
  
• Additional Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving
  

Fill a large pasta pot with water and place over high heat. Add a generous amount of salt and bring to a boil. Cook the lasagna noodles for only 8 minutes; they should still be somewhat firm, as they will continue to cook when you bake the lasagna. Drain the noodles in a colander and rinse them quickly under cool water to stop the cooking process. Drizzle some olive oil so the sheets don't stick together, the set aside.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and drizzle with {about 2 TB} of olive oil. Saute the onion, garlic and bay leaf for a couple of minutes, until the onions are translucent and smell sweet. Add the ground beef and pork, stirring to break it up, and cook until the meat is thoroughly browned, about 10 minutes. Drain out the excess fat. Combine the fennel seeds, red pepper flakes, brown sugar and dried oregano in a spice mill or a coffee grinder, give it a whirl, and sprinkle on the browned meat. Stir in the tomato paste until well blended; season with salt & pepper. Take the pan off the heat.

In a large bowl, combine the ricotta and Parmesan cheeses. Fold in the parsley, basil and eggs, season with salt and pepper, and mix well.

Preheat the oven to 350. Take inventory of the components you should have now: slightly cooked lasagna noodles, seasoned meat mixture, ricotta cheese filling, 2 pounds of mozzarella cheese, a pot of sauce and a 13 x 9 inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Let the layering begin.

Start by ladling enough sauce into the dish to cover the bottom; in my experience this prevents the lasagna from sticking.

• Layer 1 -- the noodles: slightly overlap 4 lasagna noodles lengthwise so they completely cover the bottom with no gaps. Here is a little tip I swear by: if you take 2 lasagna noodles and line the short ends of the pan, they will act as brackets or a wall to give the lasagna support when you cut it.
• Layer 2 -- the meat: spread half the meat mixture on top of the noodles with a spatula. The meat mixture, being the most solid element, will act as a foundation.
• Layer 3 -- the cheese: spread half the ricotta cheese mixture over the meat, smooth out with a spatula, and then sprinkle a third of the shredded mozzarella evenly over the ricotta mixture for that stringy cheese pull that you know and love.
• Layer 4 -- the sauce: top with a full ladle of tomato sauce, about 1 cup; smooth it out with a spatula. Repeat layers 1 through 4. Finish with a final layer of noodles, tomato sauce and the remaining mozzarella. I like to tap the pan lightly on the counter to force out any air bubbles and to compress the layers.

Bake for 1 1/2 hours, until golden and bubbling. Allow the lasagna to sit for 20 minutes so it doesn't ooze all over the place when you cut it into squares. Pass the extra tomato sauce and grated Parmesan around the table.

Marinara Sauce
from Tyler Florence's Real Kitchen

Makes 5 cups
Time: 1 hour

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 (28 oz) cans of whole tomatoes
• 5 fresh basil leaves, cut in fine ribbons
• 2 TB chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 bay leaves
• pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• salt/pepper
  

In a large pot over medium heat, heat {about 3 TB} of olive oil until hot. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, or until the onions begin to appear translucent. Hand-crush the tomatoes and add them, along with their liquid, to the pot. Toss in the herbs, red pepper flakes and sugar; season with salt & pepper. Lower the heat and simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered. Stir occasionally. Remove bay leaves before serving.