Tesseract
11-30-05, 03:05 PM
Authentic Italian Lasagne with "Meat" Sauce
Category: Main Dishes - Pasta
Suitable for a: vegan diet
Ingredients:
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Quick Bolognese Sauce:
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/4 cup sweet white wine such as white Zinfandel
1 medium carrot
1 small onion
1 celery stalk (optional)
1 can whole tomatoes with juice
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, margarine, or olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 lbs. meatless hamburger crumbles
1 1/2 cups whole milk or soymilk (if using sweetened soymilk, omit sugar)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Bechamel Sauce:
3 cups milk or soymilk
1 bay leaf
3 blades fresh mace (~1/4 tsp ground)
1/2 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup flour
Salt & pepper
The Rest Of The Ingredients:
1 lb. dried lasagne noodles
1 cup parmesan or soy parmesan cheese
3 tbsp butter/margarine
Instructions:
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Part 1: Make the Bolognese Sauce
You can do this part a day or more ahead of time and refrigerate the sauce. Just warm it to about room temperature before assembling the lasagne.
Rehydrate the porcini mushrooms in 1/2 cup of hot water, straining and reserving the soaking liquid.
Simmer the white wine in a skillet until reduced to about 2 tablespoons and set aside. (This is purely a time-saving step. You can add the wine directly to the sauce without reducing it separately, but it will have to cook longer.)
Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery, porcini, and tomatoes, reserving the tomato juice. (Food processor: rough-chop the the onion, carrot and celery, and give them about 10 pulses. Then process the porcini ~15 seconds or until well ground. Pulse the tomatoes in their juice 6-8 times.)
In a 12-inch skillet, heat the butter/margarine/oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, porcini, and cook until softened but not browned (~4 min). Add garlic and sugar and cook until fragrant (~30 sec). Add meatless crumbles and break up with a spoon. Do not brown. Add milk and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, breaking up the crumbles so there are no large pieces, until most of the liquid has evaporated and 'meat' is sizzling (~18-20 min). Stir in tomato paste and cook ~1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, reserved porcini liquid, salt, and pepper. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer ~12-15 more minutes, or until thick and moist but nut runny. Stir in reduced wine and liquid smoke and simmer ~ 5 more minutes to blend flavors. (If you don't pre-reduce the wine, you can simply add it with the tomato juice and porcini liquid, but the last round of simmering will take quite a bit longer.)
Part 2: Make the Bechamel Sauce
In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk with the bay leaf and mace. Do not scald the milk.
In a separate saucepan (or saucier if you have one), melt the butter/margarine. Add the flour and mix well with a whisk or fork. Cook ~2-3 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Add the hot milk and whisk together. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook ~4-5 more minutes. Season with salt & pepper and set aside.
Part 3: Make the Lasagne
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a large shallow baking dish.
Boil the noodles: Cover your work area with a tablecloth or towels. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and set a bowl of cold water to the side. Boil the lasange noodles, removing them ~4 minutes before the instructions say to. Dunk them in the cold water, and lay them flat on the work area.
Assemble: Spread a large spoonful of the bolognese sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange a layer of pasta, cutting if necessary to fit to the dish. Spread a thin layer of bolognese, followed by the bechamel sauce. (The bechamel will become thick and pasty as it cools, which may or may not make it easier to drizzle/spread.) Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers in the same order, ending with a layer of pasta coated with bechamel. Use any pasta trimmings to patch any gaps in the layers. Do not make more than 6 layers-- if necessary, make a second lasagne in a separate dish. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan and dot with the butter/margarine.
Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 F or until golden-brown on top. Rest for at least 5 minutes (24 hours or so is even better) before serving.
Additional comments:
------------------------------------------------------
This recipe is adapted from The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia, and the Bolognese Sauce is adapted from Cook's Illustrated. It's a labor of love, but I hope the results will be well worth it! I personally haven't tried it with meatless crumbles yet, but I have eaten the original non-vegetarian version many times, and it is fabulous.
It's twice as good leftover, so if you're serving it to guests, I'd recommend making the whole thing ahead of time and simply warming it through in the oven. This also makes the big dinner party a lot easier!
I don't recommend using no-boil noodles. I have a Cook's Illustrated article that discusses how to make this dish with no-boil noodles, but their method still calls for soaking them in hot water. I figure if you have to deal with hot wet noodles anyway, you might as well just use regular noodles and not run the risk of ruining the lasagne.
Category: Main Dishes - Pasta
Suitable for a: vegan diet
Ingredients:
------------------------------------------------------
Quick Bolognese Sauce:
1/2 oz dried porcini mushrooms
1 1/4 cup sweet white wine such as white Zinfandel
1 medium carrot
1 small onion
1 celery stalk (optional)
1 can whole tomatoes with juice
1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, margarine, or olive oil
1 small garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 lbs. meatless hamburger crumbles
1 1/2 cups whole milk or soymilk (if using sweetened soymilk, omit sugar)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 tsp salt
Fresh-ground black pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
Bechamel Sauce:
3 cups milk or soymilk
1 bay leaf
3 blades fresh mace (~1/4 tsp ground)
1/2 cup butter/margarine
3/4 cup flour
Salt & pepper
The Rest Of The Ingredients:
1 lb. dried lasagne noodles
1 cup parmesan or soy parmesan cheese
3 tbsp butter/margarine
Instructions:
------------------------------------------------------
Part 1: Make the Bolognese Sauce
You can do this part a day or more ahead of time and refrigerate the sauce. Just warm it to about room temperature before assembling the lasagne.
Rehydrate the porcini mushrooms in 1/2 cup of hot water, straining and reserving the soaking liquid.
Simmer the white wine in a skillet until reduced to about 2 tablespoons and set aside. (This is purely a time-saving step. You can add the wine directly to the sauce without reducing it separately, but it will have to cook longer.)
Finely chop the onion, carrot, celery, porcini, and tomatoes, reserving the tomato juice. (Food processor: rough-chop the the onion, carrot and celery, and give them about 10 pulses. Then process the porcini ~15 seconds or until well ground. Pulse the tomatoes in their juice 6-8 times.)
In a 12-inch skillet, heat the butter/margarine/oil over medium-high heat. Add onion, carrot, celery, porcini, and cook until softened but not browned (~4 min). Add garlic and sugar and cook until fragrant (~30 sec). Add meatless crumbles and break up with a spoon. Do not brown. Add milk and bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, breaking up the crumbles so there are no large pieces, until most of the liquid has evaporated and 'meat' is sizzling (~18-20 min). Stir in tomato paste and cook ~1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, reserved porcini liquid, salt, and pepper. Bring back to a simmer over medium-high heat, then reduce to medium and simmer ~12-15 more minutes, or until thick and moist but nut runny. Stir in reduced wine and liquid smoke and simmer ~ 5 more minutes to blend flavors. (If you don't pre-reduce the wine, you can simply add it with the tomato juice and porcini liquid, but the last round of simmering will take quite a bit longer.)
Part 2: Make the Bechamel Sauce
In a small saucepan, gently heat the milk with the bay leaf and mace. Do not scald the milk.
In a separate saucepan (or saucier if you have one), melt the butter/margarine. Add the flour and mix well with a whisk or fork. Cook ~2-3 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Add the hot milk and whisk together. Bring the sauce to a boil, stirring constantly, and cook ~4-5 more minutes. Season with salt & pepper and set aside.
Part 3: Make the Lasagne
Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a large shallow baking dish.
Boil the noodles: Cover your work area with a tablecloth or towels. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and set a bowl of cold water to the side. Boil the lasange noodles, removing them ~4 minutes before the instructions say to. Dunk them in the cold water, and lay them flat on the work area.
Assemble: Spread a large spoonful of the bolognese sauce in the bottom of the dish. Arrange a layer of pasta, cutting if necessary to fit to the dish. Spread a thin layer of bolognese, followed by the bechamel sauce. (The bechamel will become thick and pasty as it cools, which may or may not make it easier to drizzle/spread.) Sprinkle with a little parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers in the same order, ending with a layer of pasta coated with bechamel. Use any pasta trimmings to patch any gaps in the layers. Do not make more than 6 layers-- if necessary, make a second lasagne in a separate dish. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan and dot with the butter/margarine.
Bake for about 20 minutes at 400 F or until golden-brown on top. Rest for at least 5 minutes (24 hours or so is even better) before serving.
Additional comments:
------------------------------------------------------
This recipe is adapted from The Italian Cooking Encyclopedia, and the Bolognese Sauce is adapted from Cook's Illustrated. It's a labor of love, but I hope the results will be well worth it! I personally haven't tried it with meatless crumbles yet, but I have eaten the original non-vegetarian version many times, and it is fabulous.
It's twice as good leftover, so if you're serving it to guests, I'd recommend making the whole thing ahead of time and simply warming it through in the oven. This also makes the big dinner party a lot easier!
I don't recommend using no-boil noodles. I have a Cook's Illustrated article that discusses how to make this dish with no-boil noodles, but their method still calls for soaking them in hot water. I figure if you have to deal with hot wet noodles anyway, you might as well just use regular noodles and not run the risk of ruining the lasagne.