Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Lasagna in a Loaf Pan


Italian Dinner: Remembering the Amalfi Coast
     Since we moved into the new apartment we have been having a bit of trouble with our cable and Internet connections.Today was the day of our appointment to finally get it all sorted out. I was given the ubiquitous window of time for their arrival so I knew I'd better not plan on an outing of any kind for today.

     I needed to make myself busy while I waited for the technicians.I decided that it was a perfect day to create lasagna in a loaf pan, lasagna because its delicious and a loaf pan because I left my big lasagna pan in Texas.

     I love this dish because I can prepare it early in the day (or even the day before) and pop it in the oven at 350 degrees till hot and bubbly. I suppose I could even freeze it but we can never wait that long.

      The cable technicians arrived shortly after I began the preparation process and I got the impression the don't often go on a service call to find the customer kneading homemade pasta. I think they were amused.


Meat Sauce
½ lb ground beef
½ lb ground pork
(Many grocers don’t grind pork to order. I bought 1 small pork chop and ground it in my food processor. Problem solved!)
½ large onion
2-3 cloves garlic
3 cans fire roasted organic Muir Glen diced tomatoes (I had no fresh on hand today)
½-cooked carrot pureed in food processor
½ Serrano pepper also spun to bits in the food processor
$4.00
Smells and tastes wonderful
 I cooked the meat first then the cooked onion and garlic
Added the tomatoes, pureed carrot and pepper
Added red pepper flake
Garlic salt
Tsp sugar
And a pinch of Italian herbs
Add your favorite spices and experiment.

Béchamel
1 tbs butter olive oil mix
1 tbs flour
½ cup milk
Hint of nutmeg

I melted the butter & oil then added the flour
I cooked it while whisking for a minute then added water and heated it to a boil
It thickened and I pulled it off heat.
$.80
smooth and creamy a little goes a long way
Pasta (home made)
1-cup flour (I used mostly AP with a bit of cake flour)
1 egg
Salt
Touch of olive oil 
$.50 for the Pasta
I made the well of flour for the egg and hand kneaded it for about 10 minutes
Then ran it through the pasta machine to make the sheets. Super easy!

Making pasta is easy and delicious
Then the fun began…
I put a ladleful of sauce on the bottom of the loaf pan
Then a cooked lasagna sheet
Spoonful of Béchamel
Layer of sauce
Lasagna sheet
Spoonful of béchamel
Layer of sauce
Lasagna sheet
Spoonful of Béchamel
Layer of sauce
,,,,etcetera etcetera etcetera,,, 
Layers of tomato goodness in progress

 Somewhere in the middle I grated a bit of Parmesan
For a surprise treat
I topped with the last bit of sauce cheese and some leftover
Mozzarella balls I had on hand.

1 comment:

Authentic Haven Brand said...

OK, mouth watering...Now when did you say you were coming to the ranch : ) Can't wait to taste this Yummmy