I do not cook my pasta
sheets beforehand when making lasagna; there, I've said it. No, I do not, and have
various reasons for it; not just out of convenience. Now there are folks out
there who will cry "Blasphemy!", but there will be others who will
sigh in relief that they're not the only ones. Then there are those who have
never made lasagna, and rely on the frozen variety. Poor souls, they thought it was too difficult,
especially the part about manipulating long sheets of pasta without creating
chaos. Dear friends, consider yourselves
saved; saved from freezer burn and microwave lasagna.
My reasons for not cooking
the pasta sheets beforehand: 1 - convenience of course; 2 - pasta cooks more
evenly inside the baking dish; 3 - it absorbs the flavors of the tomatoes,
herbs and garlic from the sauce it is simmering in; 4 - by leaving gaps and
layers between the sheets gives them ample room to not stick together and
become gummy (the sheets will expand during the baking process also). Your
question might be, "Do I need to buy lasagna sheets that specifically say
"no cook" on the box?" The answer is no! You can use those
pretty, curly ended sheets; they are cooking in a liquid medium anyway, but in
a manner that ensures they will not be over or undercooked. I purchase both
types only because the smaller "no cook" sheets fit perfectly in
9" x 5" x 3" aluminum loaf pans which I can freeze for a later meal
(2-3 servings); or give away. I can use either/or in the 9" x 12" x
3" aluminum baking pans. The number needed depends on which type of pans
being used: 30 curly ended for 2 - 9" x 12"; 20 no cooks for 4 -
9" x 5" loaf pans; or 15 curly for 1 - 9" x 12" and 10 no
cooks for 2 - 9" x 5" loaf pans.
Too much? Double wrap the pans in
aluminum foil and freeze them; reheat at 350F for a half hour, remove the foil
and heat for another 30 minutes. Why the
aluminum pans and not glass casserole dishes? Simple answer is, "No clean
up!" Oh sure, they have that new liner paper out for the glass dishes, but
it takes up room and I'd rather have more sauce than paper.
Making lasagna is artwork;
creation of a beautifully tasty dish using vegetarian, meat, tomato, or Alfredo
sauce of your choice; cheeses of ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, provolone, and
even cottage cheese. Or be truly
adventurous with a variety of seafood, or vegetables, using thin slices of
zucchini instead of a grain pasta. For
those who like cheddar cheese within their Italian dishes, including pizza; I
slap you with my glove and cry out, “Infidels, have you no respect!” Keep the cheddar cheese for macaroni and
cheese dishes, keep it out of Italian cuisine!
I'm warning you now that
this will be a fairly long article, making a great lasagna takes time. It's not
as simple as Gordon Ramsay (Kitchen Nightmares, Hell’s Kitchen) makes it seem
on his shows; sauce is already prepared, noodles cooked, cheese is either cool
or at room temperature. That's why it can be layered together quickly, placed
under a broiler and done in about 10 minutes; it's more of a warming process
than a cooking one. You need to have a
great sauce for Italian dishes; homemade with your own hands and that means
made with love! You will need a minimum of 14 cups, perhaps 16, especially if
you want to serve a bowl on the side; and at room temperature. When the game plan is lasagna, making a 6
quart crock pot of sauce (didn’t you read my article on processing tomatoes and making sauce!!??!!) I will add 2 pounds of ground beef that has been browned with
onions, garlic and 2 teaspoons of ground black pepper. 
A mixture of cheeses truly
enhances a dish like lasagna: 12 cups of Ricotta (I use half whole milk, half
part skim; but you can use all whole or all part skim). 1 bag (8 ounces) each of shredded Mozzarella
and shredded Provolone, 1 cup shredded Romano cheese. The cheeses should be
cool, but not cold; mix them all together in a large bowl, except for half the
Mozzarella and half the Provolone. Take those halves, mix together and set
aside. I was not introduced to “cottage
cheese lasagna” until I moved into Utah.
While ricotta is made from the whey of milk; curds become cottage cheese. The pioneers, not being of Italian descent,
fed whey to the animals while using the curds and cream to create dairy
products. I have used small curd
cottage cheese in my lasagna cheese mixture if I could not find enough ricotta
to use.
Preheat the oven to 375F;
lightly spray the pan interiors with nonstick cooking spray (we don't want to leave
any yummy sauce sticking to the pan). Spread one cup of sauce over the bottom.
Place one sheet over the sauce and press down slightly. See that space at the ends of the sheet; this is going to allow the liquids in the sauce to simmer up the sides, be absorbed by the sheets and cook them to tender perfection. The sauce will thicken up with the absorption of the excess liquid. By the way, for the 9" x 5" loaf pans, each layer will have one sheet of pasta, while the larger pans will have 3 sheets, side by side, for each layer.
From the cheese mixture in
the large bowl, spread a thickness of between 1/4" and 1/2" over the
pasta sheet only. Spread a half cup of
sauce over the cheese as evenly as possible. Now we begin to repeat the
layering process with a pasta sheet over the sauce; press down slightly; spread
cheese, sauce, sheet, cheese, sauce, sheet, (however a slight change) sauce,
sheet. We will end up with three layers of cheese filling total; and a top
layer of sauce only between the sheets. Now
that final pasta sheet you laid down; spread sauce evenly over it, but do not
fill in the sides of the pan. Remember, the liquids from the sauce need that
space to move around in; not enough free space and you'll have an overflow onto
your oven floor. Bake the lasagnas for
one hour; spread the remaining Mozzarella and Provolone mixture over the tops
of each and return to the oven for 20 minutes. Beautiful works of art!
Let the lasagna rest for 15
minutes before cutting into squares; the longer you wait, the firmer the
servings will become. While I may have patience in creating this most
outstanding meal, I have none with waiting to eat it! The longer you wait
though, the cooler it is becoming also; so your big decision is do you want it
pretty, but cold; or hot, messy and absolutely out of this world delicious? Stop thinking, start eating!
Mary Cokenour
