Long Weekend Lasagna

LONG WEEKEND LASAGNA.

Got a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Yesterday was Sunday, already a good day to dedicate to a craft like a lasagna, and the fact that it’s a long weekend only makes it all the more appropriate. You can make and eat that lasagna, then drop into that carb and cheese induced coma, sleep it off, and still have one day to waste before going back to… well, whatever it is a weekday means these days.

We had a beautiful bottle of wine to go with this lasagna courtesy of our friends over at Arlo, who have pivoted into selling wine online during this lockdown, in anticipation of their real opening. Check them out, please. Fantastic people, selling fantastic wine, out of what is sure to be a fantastic place.

Back to the lasagna. This isn’t a completely hand-crafted, traditional Italian affair. This is a home-school, Garfield-style LASAGA.

I admit, I used oven-ready noodles because: A) I’m lazy, B) I didn’t feel like doing the boil-and-shock, C) I don’t have a pasta rolling machine and D) even if I did, I’m lazy.

I did, however, make a four-hour simmered ragù, the recipe to which I have already posted and can be found here, and an Italian-style béchamel, or besciamella. This white sauce, spiked with garlic and nutmeg was really the kicker, taking the richness up and over the top. I mean, I grated high-quality mozzarella into it as well, so technically it was a mornay, but damn whatever it was, it was good.

Parmesan cheese, grated right from the wedge with a Microplane grater sealed the deal. It was cheesy, delicious and I’m going to be living of this lasagna for days. So, without further ado, let’s get into it.

Lazy Sunday/Long Weekend Lasagna

Ingredients:

• 1 recipe worth of my ragù, recipe found here, simmered for at least 4 hours

For the besciamella:

• 28.4g (2 TBSP) butter
• 28.4g (2 TBSP) all-purpose flour
• 500mL (2 cups) 2% milk
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced finely
• 1 TSP nutmeg, freshly grated, if possible
• Kosher salt, to taste
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 300g (10oz.) high-quality, low-moisture mozzarella, grated

For the lasagna

• 1 375g package of oven-ready lasagna noodles
• 170g (6oz.) finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 TBSP mixed basil and Italian parsley, finely chopped

Method:

1. Make that ragù like I taught you (once again, recipe found here), and let it simmer for minimum 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Set it over the lowest heat on a back burner.
2. Make the besciamella. In a medium saucepan, preferably with sloping sides, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Once melted and foamy, whisk in the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes, until a blond roux has formed. Add the garlic, stir to combine and then whisk in the milk, pouring in a slow, steady stream. Bring the pot to a simmer, whisking all the while so the bottom doesn’t scorch. The sauce will thicken at the simmer. Reduce the heat to low, add the nutmeg and whisk in 280g of the mozzarella, a bit at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper and move the pan to the other back burner, leaving on the lowest heat.
3. Preheat the oven to 375°F and begin to assemble the lasagna. In a 9×13” baking dish or casserole, spread a healthy ladle or two of the ragu and drizzle on about a quarter of the besciamella. Top with a layer of noodles, breaking them to fill gaps as needed, and not overlapping unless necessary.
4. Repeat the layers (ragù, besciamella and noodles) now topping each layer with a sprinkling of grated Parmesan. On your final layer of noodles, which should be the third, top with the remaining sauces, the reserved 20g mozzarella and the remaining parmesan.
5. Place the baking dish on a sheet pan to catch any overflow and bake for 45 minutes to an hour, rotating the pan halfway through cooking.
6. Remove from the oven and let stand minimum 10 minutes, preferably 30 minutes before garnishing with the herbs and cutting into portions.
7. Eat, eat more, say you’re not going to eat anymore, eat one more piece, sleep.

This dish kind of demands a crowd, but since we can’t do that these days, it makes tons of leftovers. Get the practice in now, and you’ll be sure to impress when dinner parties and potlucks become a thing again. Or, you could always just share with your favorite Monday-hating, tubby, orange kitty friend.