Venetian Lasagne Recipes

VENETIAN LASAGNE

Steps:

• Put the porcini mushrooms, marsala, and water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil, then take off the heat and scissor the softened mushrooms into smaller pieces.
• Warm the oil in a heavy-based saucepan with a lid, and finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery either by hand or in a processor and scrape them into the pan.
• Let the vegetables soften over a gentle heat for about 5 minutes or so, then stir in the thyme and salt.
• Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a fork, and let it brown a little. Then stir in the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and bay leaf.
• Add the porcini mushrooms with their dark, gorgeously flavored liquid and bring the contents of the pan to a boil. Once the sauce is bubbling, put the lid on, turn the heat down to very low, and leave to simmer gently for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you're using a wide pan, the shorter time should be enough; if the sauce is piled up higher, you'll probably need the full hour.
• While the sauce is simmering, make the polenta layers. First dampen your chosen pans 13x9x2 by letting some water from the cold tap splash them a bit.
• Make up the polenta in a saucepan following the package instructions, but first dissolve a chicken bouillon cube in the specified amount of water, or use chicken broth instead of water.Stir as instructed with your wooden spoon, and when the polenta has thickened, add, beating as you go, the tablespoon of butter and 1 cup of Parmesan. Taste to see if you want any more seasoning. Once the polenta is thick and coming away from the sides of the saucepan, quickly divide it between the damp pans, spreading each one to an even as possible layer using a silicone spatula you've passed under a cold tap. It will set almost instantly. You can put aside these polenta layers and your meat sauce for now.
• When you are ready to assemble the lasagne, preheat the oven to 400°F Using 1 polenta-lined pan as your dish, spoon half of the meat sauce over the polenta.
• Deftly tip out (it's not hard) one of the other polenta layers and place this over the meat sauce in the pan you're working on and then add the last half of meat sauce.
• Top with the final layer of polenta from the third pan, then sprinkle the remaining 1 cup of Parmesan cheese over the top.
• Bake for 1 hour if your meat sauce was cold, and about 45 minutes if it was still warm. The cheese should have melted and become slightly golden, and the lasagne must be piping hot right through.
• Tips.
• Make ahead note: The lasagne can be made and assembled 2 days ahead. Cover the pan tightly with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and refrigerate. Bake as directed in the recipe; however, the refrigerator-cold lasagne may need extra 10-20 minutes' cooking time, and check the lasagne is piping hot in the center.
• Freeze note: The assembled lasagne can be frozen, wrapped in double layer of plastic wrap and a layer of foil, for up to 3 months. Thaw for 24 hours in the refrigerator then bake as above.

VEGETARIAN LASAGNA

Steps:

• For the sauce: Put the olive oil and garlic in a medium pot over low heat. Cook the garlic, stirring occasionally at first and more often as it colors, until golden brown, about 7 minutes. Raise the heat to medium-low, add the onions and a large pinch of salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and red pepper flakes, and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, basil sprig, thyme and 1 teaspoon salt, raise the heat to medium and bring the sauce to a lively simmer. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until quite thick (if you draw a spoon through the sauce, you'll see the bottom of the pot for a few seconds before the sauce fills back in), about 30 minutes. As the sauce thickens, turn the heat down a bit so the bottom doesn't scorch. Stir in the chopped basil. Let cool to room temperature before assembling the lasagna. (Makes 1 quart.)
• To assemble: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Squeeze the spinach in your hands to remove as much liquid as possible. Put it in a large bowl, and stir in the ricotta, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan, the egg, 1 teaspoon salt and the nutmeg.
• Spread 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Lay 3 lasagna noodles across the sauce (they won't touch). Spread 3/4 cup tomato sauce on top. Dollop 1/3 of the ricotta mixture (about 1 cup) across the sauce, and use the back of a spoon to spread it (it will smush into the tomato sauce, which is fine). Scatter 1 cup of the mozzarella on top.
• Repeat the layering 2 more times. Top with the last 3 noodles, spread the last 3/4 cup tomato sauce over them and scatter the remaining 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan over the top. Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray, and cover the baking dish.
• Bake until the noodles are soft and the cheese has melted, about 40 minutes. Remove the foil, and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbling and the lasagna is slightly browned around the edges, about 15 minutes more. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

WORLD'S BEST (NOW VEGETARIAN!) LASAGNA

Steps:

• Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring, until tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in plant-based sausage, meat substitute crumbles, crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, 1 tablespoon parsley, sugar, basil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, Italian seasoning, fennel seeds, and pepper. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 1 1/2 hours.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add lasagna noodles; cook 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and rinse noodles with cold water.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Meanwhile, stir together egg, ricotta, remaining 2 tablespoons parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl.
• To assemble lasagna, spread 1/3 of the sauce in a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over sauce. Spread with 1/2 of the ricotta mixture. Top with 1/3 of the mozzarella slices. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over mozzarella and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat layers and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan.
• Bake, covered with cooking spray-coated foil, for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake until hot and bubbly, about 25 minutes more. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing into 12 equal servings.