The object of the day was to teach these two beautiful young women how to make homemade lasagna noodles and lasagna. We had a very successful day and only one hysterically funny awkward moment when after the girls put the eggs in the well of their flour mound the walls started to fall away and the eggs started to escape. It was a funny mad dash to contain the eggs and mix it with the flour to make dough. It is so much more fun to cook when you are with great people.
While the girls mixed their dough, I sauteed equal parts mix of ground beef and pork until nicely browned, about 5 lbs.
Simple Pasta Dough
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups 00 Durum flour
5 large eggs
Make a well in the middle of your flour large enough to hold all five eggs. With a fork gently beat the eggs incorporating the flour as you go around in a circle. Continue to incorporate the flour until you start to develop a ball of dough. At this point you will need to start mixing the dough with your hands. Knead until the dough starts to pull away from your hands. It is possible that not all the flour will be used. Push this flour aside, if your dough is too dry it will not mix well. You can always add flour if it is too wet, but not always easy to add liquid if it is too dry.
When the dough is done, put it into a plastic bag or wrap in saran wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.
After the girls were done with their dough and the dough was safely secured in plastic bags to rest for 30 minutes we mixed the filling.
Lasagna Filling
4 lbs. fresh ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano or Asiago cheese
6 large eggs
1 1/2 tblsps. granulated garlic
1 1/2 tsps. oregano
salt/pepper to taste (be careful with salt, these cheeses can be salty already)
1/2 - 3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
Mix all together with a mixer. Taste to see if the seasonings are to your liking and adjust as necessary. Set aside.
By this time the dough had rested well enough and it was time to start rolling it out. A ball of dough that went in a little rough comes out of the bag all smooth and tender and ready for rolling.
Sadly unlike Marcella Hazan, I have not been trained by my ancestors to roll my dough out by hand. So we take the easy approach and utilize the pasta machine that my parents bought me a dozen or so years ago. We flatten the ball of dough out and cut it into 1/2 inch slices as needed. using a rolling pin, roll the dough out thin enough that it can fit into the roller set at the first setting. Roll the dough through the machine until you have put it through every level including level 6 (there are 7 levels in total).
Lay the long pieces of dough down, cut in pieces that are long enough to cover your baking dish. Repeat these steps until you are finished with your whole ball of dough. We got enough dough to make one pan of lasagna that was 9 x 13 and one that is 13 x 20 (approximately) with 2 small sections of dough left.
Lay the dough pieces onto a lightly floured cookie sheet with layers of parchment in between the layers of dough.
To use the dough for the lasagna, boil a very large pot of water that has been well salted. Put the pasta in the boiled water and boil for about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pot and lay on parchment paper lined cookie sheets. When cool enough to handle, separate pasta sheets out and flatten. Do not let cool completely or it will just stick together. When all pasta is cooked, begin assembling your lasagna.
Lightly ladle your favorite tomato sauce on the bottom of your baking dish. Cover the bottom with pasta, overlapping just slightly at the edges. Slather your ricotta cheese mixture generously over the noodles. Sprinkle your ground meat (you could use chopped sausage, your favorite ragu, seafood or chopped chicken as well as vegetables of your choice) on top of the ricotta cheese. Top this with the shredded mozzarella. Then start over, sauce, pasta, ricotta, meat and mozzarella. Please keep in mind that your top layer should have a generous amount of sauce that covers all corners and edges of the pasta. If not covered well enough, the pasta will get crispy and possibly dry out when baked.
When lasagna is assembled, bake at 350 degrees until cheese is gooey, lightly browned and hot through, approximately 45 minutes - 1 hour. Serve with a great loaf of garlic bread and a bottle of your favorite red wine.
Now since both of my girls made a batch of dough and we of course didn't want to waste it, we continued on and made a batch of tagliatelle to be used for dinner.
Dinner tonight was a Sausage Mascarpone Tagliatelle. One of the simplest dinners to make in a hurry.
1 lb. mascarapone cheese
1 lb. of your favorite sausage (we used the Godfather-wild mushroom, parmiggiano reggiano and pork. We got it at Clover Farms at the Allentown Farmer's Market)
1 - 2 cups frozen peas
1 lb. tagliatelle or favorite long pasta
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Remove sausage from the casing, break into bits into a hot frying pan, sauteing until no longer pink. Reduce heat to medium, add cheese, stirring often till melted and well combined. Stir in peas and cook until hot. Drain boiled pasta and dress with sauce. Top with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve hot, expect compliments. :O)
I have to repeat, What an Amazing Day! I look forward to a lot more of them just like this, but right now, I am exhausted.
hugs,
dina
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