Le Marche Lasagna Recipes

LE MARCHE LASAGNA

Steps:

• Place porchini mushrooms in a small bowl with enough warm water to cover; let stand 30 minutes.
• Drain mushrooms, reserving liquid if desired, for a more pronounced mushroom flavor. Strain liquid through a fine mesh sieve and set aside, if using. Chop mushrooms and set aside.
• Using a piece of kitchen twine, tie together bay leaf, rosemary, and thyme; set aside.
• Melt 12 tablespoons butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add prosciutto and saute for 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Add onions, celery, and carrots, reduce heat to medium, and cook until very soft, about 10 minutes, making sure vegetables do not brown. Reduce heat to medium-low, add tomato paste, and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes.
• In a large skillet over medium-high heat melt 12 tablespoons butter with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add pork and cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes. Transfer pork to colander and to drain off excess fat. Discard fat in skillet; set skillet aside. Transfer pork to saucepan with skillet; set aside.
• Set skillet over medium heat. Add Marsala and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon or spatula, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour Marsala over pork and vegetables. Place saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce to a simmer and cook until liquid has reduced by one-third. Add mushroom liquid, chicken stock, and cloves; stir to combine. Add herb bundle and push down to submerge in liquid. Partially cover saucepan and continue to let simmer for 2 hours. Remove from heat, season with salt and pepper; set aside to cool. Remove herb bundle.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add porcini and white mushrooms and cook, stirring, until white mushrooms are soft and slightly golden, about 5 minutes. Fold mushrooms into pork mixture; set aside.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in the center.
• Melt remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with melted butter. Top with pasta to cover. Sprinkle a generous 1/3 cup cheese over pasta. Ladle or spoon some of the pork mixture over cheese, spreading evenly with the back of ladle or spoon. Top with 1/2 cup bechamel sauce. Repeat process with remaining pasta, cheese, pork mixture, and bechamel sauce, keeping in mind you may not need to use all the pork mixture, and finishing with pasta. Top final layer of pasta with bechamel sauce and sprinkle with cheese.
• Transfer baking dish to a baking sheet and bake until sauce is bubbly, about 25 minutes. Increase heat to 400 degrees and continue baking until crisp on top, about 5 minutes more. Remove from oven and let stand 20 minutes.
• Cut lasagna into squares and serve immediately.

WORLD'S BEST LASAGNA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven, cook sausage, ground beef, onion, and garlic over medium heat until well browned. Stir in crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, tomato sauce, and water. Season with sugar, basil, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper, and 2 tablespoons parsley. Simmer, covered, for about 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes. Drain noodles, and rinse with cold water. In a mixing bowl, combine ricotta cheese with egg, remaining parsley, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• To assemble, spread 1 1/2 cups of meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange 6 noodles lengthwise over meat sauce. Spread with one half of the ricotta cheese mixture. Top with a third of mozzarella cheese slices. Spoon 1 1/2 cups meat sauce over mozzarella, and sprinkle with 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Repeat layers, and top with remaining mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Cover with foil: to prevent sticking, either spray foil with cooking spray, or make sure the foil does not touch the cheese.
• Bake in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove foil, and bake an additional 25 minutes. Cool for 15 minutes before serving.

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.