French Lasagna Mardi Soir Recipes

FRENCH-STYLE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until tender yet firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Combine ground beef, onion, green bell pepper, and minced garlic in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir until beef is no longer pink, 5 to 8 minutes.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour; cook for 1 minute. Pour in milk and heavy cream. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens, about 5 minutes.
• Spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Cover with 3 lasagna noodles. Spoon 1/3 of the beef mixture over the noodles. Spread 1/4 of the tomato sauce and 1/3 of the white sauce over the beef mixture. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese, salt, pepper, herbes de Provence, and garlic powder on top. Cover with 1/3 of the Swiss cheese and mozzarella cheese.
• Repeat layers twice, starting with noodles and ending with cheeses.
• Bake lasagna in the preheated oven until top is deeply browned, 30 to 45 minutes.

FRENCH LASAGNA MARDI SOIR

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• For the Bechamel: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour, a few gratings of nutmeg, and salt and pepper to make a smooth paste. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Do not allow the flour mixture to brown. Gradually whisk in the milk. Cook, stirring, until thick and bubbly; cook and stir 2 minutes more. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• For the Meat Sauce: Cook the meat and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring to break up the meat into small pieces, until browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain off all of the fat from the pan. Add the garlic, herbes de Provence and the red pepper. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the white wine. Bring to a boil and boil until nearly evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the pureed tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cook at an active simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Finishing the Dish: Spread 1/2 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 8" square baking dish (you won't cover the entire surface) Top with 2 sheets of lasagna noodles, side by side. Top with 1/3 of the remaining meat sauce (spreading to cover the noodles as best you can) and then 1/3 of the bechamel sauce. Top with 1/3 of the cheese. Repeat the layers (starting with the noodles) twice.
• Bake, uncovered, until the lasagna is bubbly and the top is golden brown, 25-30 minutes, covering loosely with foil during the last 10 minutes if the top browns too much. Let stand for 15 minutes before cutting into four pieces to serve.

FRENCH LASAGNE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, combine milk and garlic, and place over high heat until almost at boiling point. Remove from heat and allow to rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Discard garlic, and drizzle eggs into milk while whisking vigorously. Set aside.
• Place bottoms of croissants, cut side up, into a baking dish large enough to hold them snugly in a single layer. (A 10 x 13-inch dish works well.) On each croissant half, arrange a slice of ham and a slice of mozzarella. Top with remaining croissant halves, cut side down.
• Sprinkle about 2/3 of cheddar on croissants, and pour milk mixture over everything. Press croissants down with a fork so they are almost covered by milk, repeating once or twice until tops absorb some of liquid. Set aside for 20 minutes; meanwhile, heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Sprinkle remaining cheddar over croissants. Bake until puffy, golden and set, about 30 minutes. Serve immediately.

TOMATO-FRENCH BREAD LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a skillet, cook beef, onion, celery and garlic over medium heat until beef is no longer pink; drain and set aside. Toast bread; line the bottom of an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish with 10 slices. Top with half of the meat mixture and half of the tomatoes. , Combine seasonings; sprinkle half over tomatoes. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil. Crumble remaining bread over top. Repeat layers of meat, tomatoes, seasonings and oil. , In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter; stir in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk; bring to a boil. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly, about 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in Parmesan. Pour over casserole. Top with mozzarella. Bake, uncovered, at 350° for 40-45 minutes or until bubbly and cheese is golden brown.