Per questa ricetta devo ringraziare Federica, la sua versione mi ha dato l’ispirazione.

Ingredienti:

• Besciamella
• Melanzane viola
• Olio extravergine di oliva
• Parmigiano grattugiato
• Pepe nero
• Sale
• Sfoglie pronte per lasagne

Preparazione:

Lavate le melanzane e tagliatele a rondelle non troppo sottili. Cuocete le rondelle di melanzane, poche per volta, in una padella inaderente ben calda in modo che cuociano e che si abbrustoliscano leggermente.

Quando avrete finito le melanzane tenetele da parte coperte.

Sbollentate le sfoglie per lasagne, poche per volta, in una padella larga con acqua salata e un cucchiaio di olio extravergine di oliva.

Disponete le sfoglie su un panno da cucina pulito e umido.

Foderate la teglia con la besciamella e disponete le sfoglie sul fondo in modo che sbordino (VIDEO). Riempite gli strati con le melanzane arrosto, la besciamella, il parmigiano grattugiato, un pizzico di sale e poco pepe nero.

Chiudete la lasagna e coprite con besciamella e parmigiano grattugiato. Infornate a 200°, nel forno pre-riscaldato, per circa 40 minuti.

Fate riposare le lasagne qualche minuto prima di servire.

Provate anche:

Lasagne al ragù di agnello

Lasagne classiche

Lasagne con zucchine

Lasagne con carciofi e funghi

Lasagne con asparagi e prosciutto

Lasagne con fave fresche

Lasagne vegetali

So I waited 5 days before my second attempt at the lasagne. I was keen to try again because I really wanted to improve it.  The first one was good for the first attempt, but it was not great. I did things a bit differently this time.

Even more chopping...

The meat sauce is so important. I am still playing around with flavours. I really like the aubergines with it. But I absolutely love aubergines. I  followed a suggestion from an Italian friend to add celery and carrots. He said it takes the acidity out of the tomatoes, but I like that acidity. I add tomato puree to give an extra sharpness. But I liked the idea of the carrots and celery for extra flavour and texture. I also put a lot more onion, garlic fresh basil and oregano.

Cooking the vegetables for the sauce

Here we have the onion, garlic, aubergines, celery and carrots in olive oil.  Use ground beef, so the meat does not clump up. I used minced meat from Albert Hien but that was not finely minced.  The meat i used this time was perfect, but I did also chop it further with my cleaver just to be sure.  I wanted the sauce to be really tomotoey, so I put in a kilo of tomatoes, half a jar of plain tomato sauce, tomato puree.

The meat sauce

I think the sauce took about 40 mins to cook. The sauce should not be rushed.  A good sauce is the base of a good lasagne. The fresh tomatoes make the sauce really watery once they start breaking down so you want to have the fire on a lowish heat with regular stiring to reduce the sauce. When it was  beginning to reduce I added red wine. Once the meat was cooked, I was constantly tasting the sauce and adding salt, pepper, herbs or wine.

Reducing the sauce

Taste, taste, taste…

The bechamel sauce

This time I wanted to make a proper bechamel sauce as the previous cheese sauce was not very creamy. I followed a recipe from my Leith’s Techniques bible. I had no idea how much it would make. Turns out that I needed to double it for the size of the lasagne I was making, so I will now know better for lasagne number 3. I n this recipe it says to use Mace. I had no idea what that was, let alone what it would be called in Dutch. Luckily a great friend and her iPhone was able to tell me that mace in Dutch, is called Foelie. Mace is a cooking spice obtained from dried covering of the nutmeg fruit seed. I love nutmeg. I wanted to add more  milk because I thought I  had put too much white pepper and the mace. It tasted too strong and I had only enough for what the recipe suggested. But when the lasagne was all done, the bechamel sauce tasted fine.

Grated parmesan cheese

I got a nice block of matured parmesan cheese from a cheese stall at Kinkerstraat market.  A layer of the cheese goes either on the meat sauce or the bechemal sauce.

Making the lasagne

I had to use the bechamal sauce sparingly  for 2 layers and the top of the lasagne.  Next time I will make much more bechamel sauce and will use it freely!

Adding the bechemal sauce layer

The pasta I used, also with the first one was dried.  And both times they stuck to each other in the middle and broke. I will

Building up the layers

Ready for the oven

lasagne

Looking much better than lasagne No. 1

lasagne

The dish I used gives 6 good portions.

Det är faktiskt sant….jag har en alldeles egen MONA LISA jag hittade henne i ett sop-rum för många år sedan …..hon pryder min vägg i all sin glans, personen som målat motivet måtte vara en Da Vinci specialist…..för den ser precis ut som originalet men lite större….eller är den det?

Dagen har varit regning och blöt, en hel del vind……så det blev som vanligt kortisar med Beppe….han gillar verkligen inte dåligt väder……men jag vet att han älskar snö…..så vi får väl ta och se fram emot det…..

Min DOWN-period håller i sig…….jättejobbigt!!!!!Gråter mycket och har ångest mest hela tiden, jag vet inte hur jag skall vända mig…..hit och dit går tankarna hela tiden,hjärnan får ingen ro…….vilket innebär att min sömn blir störd hela tiden…….Kanske låter detta liv lite ovisst!!! Ja så är det…….men måste lära sig tecknen på upp och ner……för inget utav dem är bra……man skall vara lagom…ETT FÖRBANNAT JÄKLA ORD…….Jag har aldrig varit lagom…..hur skall jag kunna bli det nu…..skall jag kunna trivas med att vara lagom?…..Det vet é tusan men jag får vara den lydiga flickan och se va de lyckas med……och lyckas de inte……ja då vet man inte alls, eller hur?

Är på den lata sidan idag……jag gjorde 2 lsagne igår så vi äter nummer 2 idag……..killarna jublar, för de kan aldrig få för mycket lasagne…….tacksamt

Klösan

WOW. this recipe was a surprise. I made it when we had dave and ebby for dinner to try something different and it was so yummy – and it is the easiest lasagne you’ll ever do. Excellent for dinner and left overs for lunch. I would suggest you need a food proccesor cause hand grated a kilo of carrots isn’t a lot of fun!  x mrs.

Ingredients 

• 50 g butter
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 medium leeks
• 3 garlic cloves 
• 8 medium carrots (about 1 kg)
• 1/2 cup shredded basil (I actually keep forgetting this – so don’t worry if you don’t have any!) 
• 4 eggs, lightly beaten
• 300 cream
• 1 tsp pepper
• 6 sheets instant lasagne
• 400 g feta,crumbles

Instructions 

Preheat oven to 180 c

Grease a 17 x 25 cm ovenproof dish (2 l/8 cup capacity) 

Step one: Heat the butter and oil in a saucepan,then add the leeks and garlic and cook, stirring, until the leeks are soft. Add the carrots and cook covered, stirring occasionally, for about ten minutes or until the carrots are soft. Cool slightly, then stir in basil. 

Step two: Combine the eggs, cream and pepper in a bowl; mix well. 

Step three: Cover the base of the dish with half the lasagne sheets, then top with half the carrot mixture, half the feta and half the egg mixture. Repeat the layers,finishing with the egg mixture. Bake, uncovered, for about 50 minutes or until form and brown. Serves 4 – 6. 

x Mon

Jag som är så jättesnäll…….men så brukar det ju heta….men jag är SNÄLL………vissa saker orkar man inte bara….det har varit irriterat i min kropp hela helgen….så snarstucken har jag nog varit ärligt talat……Fast idag blir det fest…..vi skall äta LASAGNE och det älskar vi allihopa…kanske till och med Beppe…..vi får se…….

Klösan

Cette semaine nous avons cuisiné pour notre cours de management international. Au début du Semestre nous avions dû choisir un pays pour étudier les différences culturelles et leurs impacts sur la gestion d’une entreprise. Cours trés interéssant au passage. Sylvain avait choisi l’Italie et moi la Suède.

Pour notre dernier cours nous avons du préparer une spécialitée du pays en question.

Sylvain a cuisiné des lasagnes et moi des Kanelbular (patisseries à la cannelle dont la recette m’a été donnée par mon frère)

On a voulu tester au chocolat, car Sylvain n’aime pas la canelle, et bien les authentiques étaient bien meilleurs 

Et voila le résultat:

Les lasagnes de Sylvain étaient très bonnes, mais Patisseries un peu moins en tout cas moins belle que celles de Rom1 et Isa.

Et pour ceux qui s’inquiètent: non on ne fait pas que manger !!! On a pas pris un seul gramme…

Detta var den absolut godaste lasagne jag någonsin gjort. Då ska ni veta att jag gjort många och aldrig likadant två gånger.

Jag slängde ihop lasagnen av överbliven, mustig köttfärssås och en riktigt krämig bechamelsås. Du kan använda ditt favoritrecept och göra som du brukar. Det som gjorde att denna lasagne blev något alldeles extra var att jag gjorde bechamelsåsen markant salt och blandade ner finrivet skal av en citron. That’s it!

Resultatet blev helt makalöst bra! Den aromatiska citrustonen och den lilla syran lyfte rätten till helt nya höjder. Lovalovalova att du provar!

We made a mad dash last night to one of Rugby Union’s hallowed grounds in Scotland, Netherdale. Netherdale is the home of Gala RFC (that’s Galashiels to the uninitiated) but was also the home of the Border Reivers pro team until 2007 when the SRU closed them down to save money.

Never having been to Gala before – that’s right,  never – I had to get Jane my Sat Nav friend to help with the journey. 1h 32m she said for 72 miles.

Quite apart from the apparent sheer madness to anyone who is not rugby daft of travelling 72 miles each way on a cold, and  potentially dangerous night in November to see a game, there was the environmental stuff to consider; the fact that today I’m going to see Australia (or the wallabies as they are more affectionately known) play at Murrayfield; and the domestic issues that arise out of Rugby. Anyhow we set off at 5.45 and landed straight into M8 rush hour traffic on the way to Edinburgh. I kept my cool but as the indicator on the SatNav turned red and stayed red, I began to wonder if we would be on time; get parked and even have time to see the game!.

We got to the end of the City Bypass and jumped onto the A7. Now I could see why it was going to take us so long. Although an A road, the A7 is a one lane of traffic in each direction kind of road, passing through some small towns with 30 and 40 limits and threats of cameras but actually none. We motored on quite well until about 16 miles from Gala and then we ended up behind some pure slowcoach who insisted at slowing down at every bend no matter how “not-sharp” it was, who managed to do a poor attempt at 35mph just about all the way on the straight roads and managed to build up a queue, as far as I could see in my mirrors,  of  about a mile behind us. No doubt all going to the match. Why else would so many people be going to Gala at 7pm on a Friday night?

Anyhow we got there with Sat Nav Jane showing -16 minutes which meant we arrived at 7.15. We got a space in the college car park nearby to the ground and walked a short distance to the match. The ground was almost at capacity – maybe apart from the ends, and with hot drink and burger in hand joined in the National Anthem and watched the haka. This was Tonga’s European tour year

The match was a pleasure to watch from our vantage point just at the point where the teams go onto the field and we were a mere 3 metres from the coaching teams and the pitch edge. A totally different experience and one which reminded me of my trip to Greenock Wanderers a year or two ago.

We played a fast game and although we allowed Tonga to get a try in the final minute, we pulled off a just victory.

Our journey home was at a more respectable speed and without any sloth drivers in front and we maintained an average of 50 on the A7 which is its correct speed and arrived back home tired but happy as all the books say, to a plate of homemade lasagne and Corrie on catchup TV.

What a fantastic night!

JohnF

The big annual Lasagne Cook-Off is on today, November 21, in Lilly Street, South Fremantle.

Come join the fun!

Roel Loopers

Lasagne är perfekt helgmat tycker jag, gör en stor sats på lördagen så kan man frysa in till matlådor också!

Detta behövs:
Köttfärs
Gul lök
Vitlök
Morot
Passerade eller krossade tomater
Köttfond eller buljong
Mjölk
Vetemjöl
Margarin
Ost av valfri sort
Salt, peppar och lite god örtkrydda
Lasagneplattor, färska eller ”vanliga”

Hacka lök och vitlök, riv moroten. Jag tycker köttfärssåsen blir saftigare och godare med ganska mycket riven morot i, säkert nyttigt också och definitivt en billig ”utfyllnad” om man hellre vill se det så!

Stek köttfärs och lök, ha i riven morot och passerade alternativt krossade tomater. Späd med vatten till önskad tjocklek på såsen, i med lite köttfond eller en tärning köttbuljong. Krydda med salt och peppar och en god örtkrydda efter tycke och smak! Låt puttra en stund.

Smält smör eller margarin i en kastrull, rör i en till två matskedar vetemjöl och späd med mjölk. Koka ihop till lagom konsistens på såsen. När såsen är mer eller mindre färdig så brukar jag låta lite riven ost smälta med i såsen – bara för den goda smaken. Spar lite ost att strö över lasagnen innan den ska in i ugnen!
Varva köttfärssås och vitsås med lasagneplattor i en ugnsfast form!

Avsluta med ett lager vitsås och strö över den rivna osten som ni sparade nyss. In i ugnen i 225 grader i sisådär 30 minuter. Färska lasagneplattor har något kortare tillagningstid tror jag. Låt lasagnen stå en stund innan servering, i alla fall tycker jag den blir mycket godare då!

Tyvärr blev det inga fina bilder på den färdiga lasagnen och nu är det för sent, den är i magen!

Smaklig måltid!

Gratis medlemsskap till gratis mat – Free Food

Cars, computers, gadgets, things around the house, and it goes on. I can’t have things the way they come; they need to be modified. They need to be made better in some way. Better than they were meant to be. Not that there was anything wrong with them, I would just rather not use them as they come.

Obviously, food gets modded too. Cases in point:

Exhibit A: Suuped up Mac-n-Cheese with 3-cheeses, black forest ham, bread crumbs, and a bechamel creme sauce. Hallelujah.

Exhibit B: Suuped up brownies made from Duncan Hines brownies, topped with melted marshmallow, topped with rice crispies, topped with peanut butter and melted chocolate.

Exhibit C: Suuped up nachos. It was a whole baking sheet. I'll let the picture speak for itself.

Exhibit D: Suuped up lasagna made with spinach, apple sausage, and ricotta cheese.

Nu är det bara 36 dagar kvar till jul!

Idag har jag mest tagit det lugnt därav den lite sena uppdateringen av bloggen. Åkte med sambon ut till stugan och förberedde lite inför vinter och snö. På med fönsterluckor och in med extra ved till nyår och eventuella spontana resor ut för pulkaåkning i berget. Nu är det dock dags att ta tag i det som skall göras.

Dagens aktivitet: Baka kakor
Idag ska jag baka mina första småkakor till fikaförrådet. Valet har fallit på finska pinnar, de är goda och lätta att göra vilket gör dem lämpliga att göra med sonen efter skolan. Degen gjode jag dock innan jag åkte ut till stugan för att den skulle hinna vila. När baket är klart är det dags att sortera lite tvätt efter helgen. Sambon är ingen kung på att sortera men tvätta gör han i alla fall och snäll som jag är blir jag nöjd med det lilla… ^^

Dagens middag: Lasagne

Dagens hushållspyssel: Sortera tvätt

Da ich momentan in meiner Wohnung keinen Ofen besitze, bin ich wohl oder übel gezwungen auf das Nummer Eins Lieblingsgericht von Studenten zu verzichten. Pizza und Lasagne und was man da noch so alles reinpacken kann Da mein Freund mich aber letzte Woche besuchen kam, musste ich mir dann doch mal was ausgefalleneres als Spaghetti etc. einfallen lassen. Leider besitze ich auch nicht ein einziges Kochbuch (Versteckter Hinweis auf ein mögliches Weihnachtsgeschenk?:D) Natürlich habe ich mich auf die Suche im world wide web gemacht. Erste Anlaufstelle: Chefkoch !

http://www.chefkoch.de/

Also wenn da niemand fündig wird weiß ich auch nicht. So viele Rezepte! Da wurde selbst Gulasch kochen für mich zum Kinderspiel. Und ja! Es hat auch geschmeckt.

Ich wünsche euch viel Spaß beim stöbern!

Julie

P.S.: Hier ist das Gulasch Rezept

http://www.chefkoch.de/rezepte/1203231226126912/Gulasch.html

Sometimes, I confess, I buy the paper and I forget to actually read it. It will probably be the Guardian and I’ll buy it – promising myself that I will consume it lovingly cover to cover and that it will somehow make me a better person, raising my mind from thoughts of X Factor and lasagne. Such good intentions…

The next day I will see my paper on the sideboard. I will consider reading it but by now it looks deflated - its stories less enticing. I turn on the radio – the next episode of life and death is already happening somewhere out there. What is the point of paper pulp that only screams the breaking news of yesterday? So my paper ends up discarded and my money-waster guilt lives on. 

The characters in Thompson’s novel also face the question of the precise literary value and meaning of journalism. Well, I say face. They are journalists so they encounter the problem of writing reality but never fully discuss this issue in so many words and then, in most scenes, they get really drunk and sleep with other people or each other.

But Thompson’s narrator Paul Kemp carries around The Times like ‘a precious bundle of wisdom, a weighty assurance that [you're] not yet cut off from that part of the world that was real.’ Maybe, his character suggests, literature could learn some new tricks from the field of the hack. Get a bit more real. The alcoholic 60s cohort of ‘New Journalists’, including Thompson and his characters, try out a range of narrative and journalistic modes of writing in order to test out this theory.

Thompson, most famous for writing Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, paints a pretty debauched picture of Puerto Rico, its coin slots, fiestas, hotel parties and printing houses. Paul Kemp is portrayed as painfully aware he has only one drunken mind in a thousand with which to write reality. The Rum Diary stands as a record of a journalist-persona who writes reality ‘badly’ and offers us the job of doing better.

4/5 stars

Next I’m reading…Norman Mailer’s The Deer Park

Det kändes riktigt bra att springa och träningsvärken är sådär härligt skön i låren, så jag är absolut inte avskräckt. Tvärtom! Tyvärr blir det ingen löprunda ikväll, utan det får bli imorgon istället.

Idag ska det lagas lasagne och den är riktigt god och enkel att göra. Recept och bild är från arla.se

Ingredienser

4 port

Sås:
400gr nötfärs
1 gul lök
1 burk krossade tomater, ca 400 g
50 g smör
½ tsk salt
Spenatfyllning:
1 paket fryst, tinad bladspenat, ca 250 g
250 g Arla Köket Kesella® kvarg
1 ägg

1 pkt färska lasagneplattor
4 dl Kelda® sås Four Cheeses
1 dl Arla Köket® riven ost gratäng

Gör så här

Hacka löken. Stek köttfärsen och löken och häll tomaterna. Salta efter behag.  Sätt kastrullen på spisen på medelstark värme och låt såsen puttra medan du gör resten av fyllningen till lasagnen. Krama ur det mesta vattnet ur spenaten och blanda med kvarg och ägg. Sätt ugnen på 200°. Häll hälften av ostsåsen i botten av en ugnssäker form. Varva med plattor, sås och spenatröran. Det ska vara plattor högst upp.Häll på resten av ostsåsen. Bred ut dem jämnt så att lasagneplattorna är täckta. Strö över riven ost. Tillaga lasagnen i mitten av ugnen ca 30 minuter.  (Orginalreceptet är vegetariskt, men jag har valt att tillsätta nötfärs. Det går naturligtvis lika bra att använda quornfärs eller helt utan färs).

As promised by the weatherman, the temperature dipped enormously last night. There was a helluva storm bringing it in too. Even though the sliver of sky I can see from our bed is small, when there’s lightening it flashes white even through my eyelids. I love to lay there with my eyes closed and “see” the lightning, and count till the thunder. Last night though, there was so much of both, you could hardly tell which thunder belonged to which lightning. Impressive storm.

And oh the cool it brought! When Hubby first opened the door this morning, cold air sucked through! I was gleeful. I almost immediately started planning my baking day.

Bread for sure, and granola. I am tired of paying $5 a loaf for decent bread, and you can’t even buy very good granola, it’s always too sweet. Then, since the oven would be on anyway, I’d been wanting to make blondies forever, and I had a thing of cottage cheese in the freezer needing used, and some leftover spaghetti sauce– lasagna! Also a few yams I might as well throw in.

I haven’t even turned on the oven since we got here. Can’t bear to when it’s so hot, and besides it would be absurd when we’re running the AC to cool our house. But in Cordova I baked all the time. Like at least every other day. All our bread, muffins, pies, granola, etc, etc. I haven’t exactly missed the baking, I’ve had a real lazy energy since we got here, but I miss the homemade, wholesome baked goods like crazy.

So right off I started a batch of bread. Should have known better how things go.

I thought we’d walk to the store while the dough rose, because of course, I wasn’t prepared for my baking day. I needed oats, honey and lasagna noodles. But the Toddler was not keen on a walk, for some reason. Just for the sake of contrary-ness I figure. We puttered around the house until Husband came home, then I shot out on my own to the store (on my own of course means with Baby strapped on front). I tried to be quick, was quick really. But the bread was ready to go into the oven by the time I got back. Which made the rest of my cooking somewhat of a frenzy.

crash kitchen: this is basically all of the counter space in my New Orleans kitchen

If I had any sense I would have taken the not-walking-to-the-store time to clean the kitchen and prep a few things. I mean the whole point of this was to get everything in the oven at roughly the same time, right? Instead I madly dashed around the kitchen, making flour clouds and tomato sauce spills, and quite a pile of dishes. Finally got the lasagna and blondies in a little after one, about halfway through the bread’s hour.

Now all the 350s are done, the oven’s down to 250, and the granola’s cookin. Fun, fun, fun. Still dirty dishes in the sink, but hell– Husband took Toddler to the zoo, Baby’s sleeping delightfully, what’s a Mama to do but steal a few minutes to herself, with a cup of coffee she doesn’t need (oooh, I can feel the headache coming on already. I’m too hot, nursing, and always bordering on dehydration here to have a second, afternoon cup) and try to make her morning feel valid and productive…

Here’s a link to my Grrr-Nola:  Make Your Own Breakfast Cereal and Stick it to the Kellog Corp. recipe from my old blog.

My No-Nonsense Every Day Bread recipe will have to wait for another post.

In the meantime, here’s my favorite “Perfect” lasagna recipe, roughly following the Cook’s Illustrated one

**No boil lasagna noodles took me years to come around to, but, I finally discovered that they really are pretty good. And wow does it make lasagna more actually do-able, on a real day, in real life. If you use leftover spaghetti sauce like I did today (I stretched it out by mixing it with a can each of chopped tomatoes and paste, whizzed up in the blender, don’t forget salt and a little basil or something) it comes together super quick. Mostly just a matter of thawing frozen stuff.

1- 15oz carton ricotta or cottage cheese (cheaper, and almost as good)

1 egg

1/2 to 1 lb frozen spinach, thawed, all the liquid squeezed out

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup grated parmesan

15 no-boil lasagna noodles, CI recommends Barilla brand

about 3/4 lb (3 cups) grated mozzarella

at least 2 quarts of sauce, slightly on the thin side, so the noodles can suck some up

Mix the first 5 ingredients. Don’t forget to squeeze the spinach out, you can save the juice if you want for bread, soup, or even to thin your tomato sauce if need be.

Layer as usual (sauce first, then noodles, ricotta/spinach mixture, cheese, sauce, noodles, etc, finishing with noodles, then sauce, then cheese) being careful to make your layers super thin. That’s what I think makes it “Perfect,” and what took me years (and the CI recipe) to make myself do. Oh, yeah, 3 noodles per layer, in a 9 x 13 in pan. There will be a good inch between noodles, and around edges. That’s ok, they expand as they cook and fill those gaps. Also, when you lay down the ricotta mixture, spread as thin as you can over each noodle, don’t put any in those gaps.

Cover with aluminum foil (that’s the bummer about this recipe. You can use a baking sheet as a lid if you’ve got a big enough one that’s not warped. The no-boil noodles need all the moisture though, so don’t leave it uncovered, or poorly covered) and put in a 375 oven. After 15 mins, remove the foil. Bake 25 mins more, or until golden and bubbly-icious. Cool 10 mins (don’t skip the cooling, or it will be way too soupy, not to mention burn your tongue right out of your mouth!)