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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Fri Sep 20, 2013 9:06 am 
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Location: Telluride, CO
I'll try to post later today, but may not until Sunday. (I have a wedding tomorrow.) Karen, it certainly could have 100 layers, but mine is usually half that.

Amy


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Sat Sep 21, 2013 1:59 pm 
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Location: Ottawa, ON
Hear hear.


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Sun Sep 22, 2013 2:31 am 
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50 layers I can happily do!!!!!


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 7:58 am 
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My method for making lasagna is certainly not unique. And this can be made to accommodate any size casserole dish, it really just depends on how much you want to make. I typically use an 8x8 dish, because it’s only the two of us. Just know you don’t need a lot per person, as this is very, very rich.

There are five components:

Flour/semolina pasta sheets…for this version, must be homemade due to how thin they need to be. I use a 3/4 flour, 1/4 semolina mix. Then I add salt and water…the water is 1/4 of the total amount of flour. For example, if you want to use 2 cups of dry, you’d measure out 1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup semolina (you can use more semolina and less flour if you want), about a tsp. of salt, and 1/2 cup water. I mix it in my KA until it's just mixed. Autolyze for 20 minutes. Start mixing again until the dough comes into a loose ball. (Sometimes you need more water, and sometimes less. If you have too much water and the dough is too sticky, just add more flour until it’s simply tacky.)

Bolognese sauce…I kind of make up my own “traditional” recipe based upon the things I like best, e.g., I love to include pancetta and and a combo of tomato paste rather just canned tomatoes. I try to build flavor over time, realizing at the same time some meats get too chewy if you cook them too long. I use a combo of veal, beef and pork.

Marinara sauce…whatever is your fave recipe

Bechamel…traditional recipe. For the size dish I use I make around 2 cups.

Parm…I’m a purist and only use Parmigiano Reggiana

Pasta method:

Making the pasta sheets really depends on what kind of pasta machine you’re using. I use an Atlas. Cut your dough into manageable, but still fairly substantial pieces. Liberally flour the dough and put through your machine on the widest setting. Letter fold it and send it back through again. Continue doing this (flouring the dough each time before and after you fold it) until the dough begins to ripple. Then start decreasing. (It is imperative that the dough is not too wet, or the resulting sheets will stick to themselves as you start to decrease and you’ll be cursing.)

You can control the final width of the sheets by managing the tension you have on the dough as you feed it through. Because of the size casserole I’m using I am aiming to get the dough to be as wide as the machine itself because that gives me 4” wide sheets, which means that I’ll need two sheets to fill the width of my dish. If you were using a 13x9 dish, you’d aim for 3” sheets…that would give you three sheets across…this assumes you’ll assemble the dish against the length and not the width. (I hope that makes sense.)

You want to roll it down until the sheets are translucent, but not transparent. Depending upon your machine, that might be the highest, or second highest setting. You’ll have very long sheets. Cut the sheets into what length you’ll need for your dish. For mine, I cut them into 8” lengths. Dust a little semolina on each sheet and stack them, covered with a damp towel.

Assembly:

Blanch the pasta sheets. In a big pot with boiling water throw in one or two sheets at a time for only the briefest of time…maybe 10 seconds? You simply want to set the sheets. They can be slippery suckers when you try to get them out of the water, so I typically use my tongs (closed) and use those to pick them out of the water from underneath, or sometimes a skimmer. Transfer them to a tea towel to drain, and flatten them out immediately. If they’re kind of folded when they come out (which is not uncommon), you must unfold them right away, or the pasta will stick to itself.

There are a couple of different ways you can handle layering. You can combine the Bolognese, marinara and béchamel, basically combining three layers into one, or you can leave them separate. What’s really important is that nothing is chunky. I will frequently use my immersion blender on both the Bolognese and the marinara to make the texture more fine.

Now the fun begins…

Put a little Bolognese on the bottom of the casserole. Lay down pasta sheets to cover, trimming as necessary because you don’t want a lot of overlap, otherwise you’ll end up with a very unlevel lasagna in a few layers. (Because my dish is square, I flip the orientation of the layering occasionally to help avoid this.) Then do a very thin layer of your components…Bolognese, then marinara, then béchamel. (Or if you’ve combined the three, one just slightly thicker layer.) Sprinkle lightly with finely grated parm. Repeat until you have as many layers as you want. I use a thin spatula to press it down every once in a while. Finish top with the layers of Bolognese, marinara, béchamel and parm…although go heavier on the parm for this final layer.

Cover and put in the fridge for a while to allow the lasagna to settle.

When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375, uncover and bake. How long really depends on how big your dish is. If it’s a big dish, you may want to put it in the oven covered with foil for a period of time so it doesn’t dry out. It’s done when it’s bubbling and the parm on the top is lightly browned.

Let rest for at least 15 minutes for a smaller casserole dish or about 30 minutes for a larger one.

As you can see, this is labor intensive, but I typically have both Bolognese and marinara in the freezer, so that makes it much easier. If you’re starting every component in order to make this, spread it over a couple of days.

Amy

P.S. Lisa, if you want to use ricotta in yours, just make sure you drain it to make it very dry.


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:53 am 
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Hi Amy,

Thanks for the detailed post. My method is very similar, but I have never used fresh pasta sheets, so I am glad to have some direction on that. I haven't made a pasta recipe with water other than than the boiling water ravioli recipe you recommended, so I am looking forward to trying this one out.

Also, I hadn't thought to blend the ragu to make it a finer texture, but that is an excellent idea. I use a mix of lean ground beef, ground pork and a teeny bit of bulk sausage. Panchetta would be a very welcome addition. I generally use béchamel and ragu only but was thinking of adding ricotta with egg and herbs (and draining is a very good idea) in one or two thin layers just for visual interest since the pan is so deep. Non traditional, I know.

My new pan arrives today but my husband goes away tomorrow night for a week, so I won't be making this for a couple of weekends. I might make the ragu this weekend so I can freeze it. I already have home canned marinara so that will be easy to use.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge! It is always appreciated.

--Lisa


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 8:59 am 
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Lisa,

For this particular version, fresh pasta is an absolute necessity. This lasagna melts in your mouth, unlike lasagnas with dried pasta which have some chew.

Amy


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:07 am 
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Thanks, Amy.

When you take the pasta out of the water and set on the tea towel, are you stacking them or just one sheet per space on the towel and many towels? I have never come up with a good method for dealing with the cooked pasta sheets and this one will take many more pieces of pasta to fill the pan.

I have read that some people put a little oil in the pasta water so a bit of the oil sticks to the lasagne sheets on the way out of the water to help with sticking, but that seems counter intuitive because that oil would block the pasta from absorbing the sauce.

--Lisa


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Tue Sep 24, 2013 11:29 am 
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Lisa,

Do not stack your pasta sheets after blanching...they'll stick together. Separate with more tea towels. There's nothing to say you have to blanch all of your pasta before beginning assembly. You can blanch some, then layer in your casserole, then blanch more, etc.

You should not add oil to the pasta water.

I've edited the post I made as I'd forget to add a few key points. I may do that again over the next day or so.

Amy


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:07 am 
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Amy, I promise I wasn't going to add oil to the pasta water. :)

Anyway, I am bummed. I got my pan last night and opened it up and it is a 4" deep pan, not a 6" deep pan as ordered. They don't have any more of the 6" pan and now I can't find a reasonable substitute online. I did find one commercial pan that is 6" deep but it is also 20" long which is a bit much for my personal use. I am sending this pan back and will bookmark the thread for when I find a pan I like.

--Lisa


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 Post subject: Re: Pasta time management
PostPosted: Wed Sep 25, 2013 8:42 am 
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A 6" deep pan would yield you about 100 layers if you went the whole depth. I'd just keep the 4" pan and use that. Even then, it will be quite a tall lasagna.

Amy


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