Lasagna is actually not one of my favorite meals, but since I only have it every once in a while, I always ask myself why I don't have it more. Especially when the lasagnas I have are really good.
When Dave and I were in Florida visiting his family for Christmas, our Uncle made the most delicious lasagna, based on Emeril's recipe. It's basically lasagna topped with more meat sauce, yum!
So with a trip to Venice the following weekend, I figured the lasagna recipe would be the perfect thing to make when we had our first houseguest at our place in Nyon. Dave's friend from business school had a meeting in Geneva so he flew in early and stayed at our house for the night and we were eager to host someone for a change.
The sauce simmers for over 2 hours, but doesn't take long to prepare so I made it at lunchtime and let it simmer all afternoon.
Dave and I had a great time in Venice that weekend and I of course had to browse at a couple of small food shops, but only picked up one bag of heart-shaped pasta.
We had one really good dinner with prosciutto, pasta and a seafood platter with 5 different kinds of fish, but one lunch of pizza in a restaurant was really disappointing. Regardless, being in Italy is always so much fun and we have several more trips planned this year so I'm sure I'll be featuring lots more Italian recipes.
Emeril's Lasagna (from Food Network)
- 2 cups fresh ricotta
- 8 ounces grated Provolone
- 8 ounces grated Mozzarella
- 8 ounces grated Romano
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 tablespoon chiffonade of fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 recipe of Emeril's Meat Sauce, see recipe below
- 1/2 pound grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- 1 package of dried lasagna noodles
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, Provolone, Mozzarella, Romano, egg, milk, basil and garlic. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. To assemble, spread 2 1/2 cups of the meat sauce on the bottom of a deep dish lasagna pan. Sprinkle 1/4 of the grated cheese over the sauce. Cover the cheese with 1/4 of the dried noodles. Spread a 1/4 of the cheese filling evenly over the noodles. Repeat the above process with the remaining ingredients, topping the lasagna with the remaining sauce. Place in the oven and bake until bubbly and golden, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving. Slice and serve.
Emeril's meat sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 pound ground beef
- 1/3 pound ground veal
- 1/3 pound ground pork
- Salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 cups finely chopped onions
- 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
- 1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
- 2 tablespoons chopped garlic
- 2 (28-ounce) can of peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
- 1 small can tomato paste
- 4 cups beef stock or water
- 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- 2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano
In a large nonreactive saucepan, over medium heat, add the oil. In a mixing bowl, combine the meat. Season with salt and pepper and mix well. When the oil is hot, add the meat and brown for 4 to 6 minutes. Add the onions, celery, and carrots.
Cook for 4 to 5 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. Add the garlic and tomatoes. Continue to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Whisk the tomato paste with the stock and add to the tomatoes. Add the thyme, bay leaves, oregano, basil and red pepper. Mix well.
Bring the liquid to a boil, reduce the heat to medium and simmer for about 2 hours.
Stir occasionally and add more liquid if needed. During the last 30 minutes or cooking, re-season with salt (only if needed!) and pepper and stir in the cheese. Remove from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes before serving.
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